ARA Arauca Colombia
In 2021, a farming couple filed a legal action against several public entities, including the Unit for Comprehensive Attention and Reparation for Victims (UARIV), because they were displaced and forced to abandon the land where they lived and worked due to the multiple floods of the Bojabá River in the Department of Arauca. The plaintiffs stated that, as a result of this situation, they lost the property on which they depended for their livelihood, and indicated that the prevention and assistance measures implemented by the authorities to protect their rights were insufficient.
Due to the serious situation of internal displacement in Colombia in the context of the armed conflict, in 2011 Congress enacted Law 1448 to provide assistance to all victims of forced displacement, establishing a series of benefits and programs to help victims resettle. The plaintiffs argued that they should be recognized as victims even if their displacement was caused by natural disasters and not by the armed conflict, and pointed out that both victims of forced displacement due to natural disasters and those due to the armed conflict were in a situation of particular vulnerability and should therefore receive the same treatment. The plaintiffs invoked their rights to housing, work, food security, and a minimum wage, as well as to life and personal integrity.
The ruling set a crucial precedent by recognizing that forced displacement due to environmental factors, including climate change, was a reality that demanded a comprehensive response from the State, especially to protect the most vulnerable populations, particularly those displaced by environmental issues.
The Constitutional Court based its decision on a solid international regulatory framework, which included both Human Rights instruments and International Environmental Law, and of course some decisions of the Constitutional Court involving people who have had to move due to natural disasters.
These instruments support the idea that displacement due to environmental factors constitutes a violation of human rights and requires an appropriate response from the State, in addition to highlighting the close relationship between these rights and the environment, and underscore the need for comprehensive public policies that address the challenges of forced displacement due to environmental factors, especially in the context of climate change.
On April 16, 2024, the Constitutional Court conducted a constitutional review and ruled that climate-induced migration constitutes internal displacement. The Court determined that the plaintiffs had left their homes due to a natural disaster and, therefore, were entitled to special protection from the Colombian government. However, the Court declared that this status was not covered by existing laws, including Law 1448 of 2011, as these provisions apply to victims of displacement due to armed conflict.
This case demonstrates that environmental disasters, such as floods or landslides, caused by climate change, can force people to move from their homes and their territorial space to protect their lives and their fundamental rights such as life, personal safety, work, food, food security and the minimum living wage.
Furthermore, with this ruling, the Colombian Constitutional Court granted a superior character with inter communes effect; that is, it recognized that there may be other people in a situation similar to that of the plaintiffs. In other words, this ruling sets a precedent that can be applied to similar cases, such as those of other people displaced by flooding in the Bojabá River or in other regions affected by natural disasters.
A relevant fact highlighted in the T-123 ruling is the solidarity intervention with the plaintiffs who submitted six amicus curiae briefs to the Court in which they reiterated the facts that motivated the tutela action and the reasons why they consider that the fundamental rights of the peasant couple were violated and the need to protect the state of defenselessness and vulnerability of the plaintiffs.
The Constitutional Court also considered the opinions of various experts and social organizations, who, through amicus curiae briefs, highlighted the seriousness of the situation and the need to protect the rights of victims of environmental displacement.
He also acknowledged that displacement due to environmental factors is a complex phenomenon with multiple causes, as people are forced to leave their homes due to a combination of factors, such as loss of livelihoods, environmental degradation, and lack of economic opportunities.
Finally, the high court noted an institutional gap in protecting victims of climate displacement, as Colombia lacks a system for registering and assisting this population. Therefore, it urged Congress to design, develop, and enact a comprehensive legal framework to address the phenomenon of internal displacement due to environmental factors (Constitutional Court, 2024).
That said, the Court further concluded that the lack of specific provisions does not justify the authorities' failure to provide the necessary protection to victims of climate- and environment-induced migration, in accordance with constitutional and international standards on forced migration. Despite the lack of specific regulations, the Court noted that environmental authorities must guarantee the rights of victims and provide care and assistance that goes beyond the immediate consequences of forced displacement and seeks to stabilize their situation.
Implementation
In Ruling T-123 of 2024, the Constitutional Court urged Congress to legislate on climate displacement. In response, Senate Bill S287 of 2024 and House Bill C299 of 2022 have been introduced, seeking to recognize the rights of victims and establish protection mechanisms. These bills also propose guidelines for implementing care and protection measures for populations displaced by environmental factors. This legislative initiative is of vital importance, given that climate change will continue to cause losses and damages in the most vulnerable communities, especially in the Global South.
The ruling states that it is essential for public entities to effectively implement the measures ordered by the Constitutional Court. Legislation on climate displacement must address the multiple dimensions of this phenomenon, including the loss of livelihoods, access to basic services, and mental health. Likewise, it is necessary to strengthen early warning systems and emergency response plans to reduce risks and protect the most vulnerable populations, who tend to have less capacity to adapt and suffer the greatest adverse consequences for their rights, to the point where they have no option but displacement.
The T-123 ruling of 2024 sets a crucial precedent by recognizing forced displacement due to environmental factors, including climate change, as a reality that demands a comprehensive response from the State, especially to protect the most vulnerable populations, particularly those who have had to move due to these environmental issues.
This ruling highlights the close relationship between human rights and the environment, and underscores the need for comprehensive public policies that address the challenges of forced displacement due to environmental factors, especially in the context of climate change.
Likewise, the case demonstrates that environmental disasters, such as floods or landslides, caused by climate change, can force people to move from their homes and their territorial space to protect their lives and their fundamental rights such as life, personal security, work, food, food security and the minimum living wage.
The ruling constitutes an urgent call to recognize and address climate displacement in Colombia. By highlighting cases such as the Galeras volcano, the San Andrés Archipelago, and La Mojana, the Constitutional Court underscores the growing threat that natural disasters and climate change pose to the population.
This ruling anticipates that the number of people displaced by environmental factors could exceed that of those displaced by armed conflict, underscoring the need for proactive action.
- Two peasant people from the Municipality of Saravena in the Department of Arauca, Colombia.
- Department of Arauca.
- Municipality of Saravena.
- Administrative Department for Social Prosperity –DPS–.
- National System for Disaster Prevention and Response.
- Unit for Comprehensive Care and Reparation for Victims –UARIV.
- Ombudsman's Office.
Internal displacement is a phenomenon of human mobility that severely and multidimensionally harms the human rights of people forced to abandon their habitual residence without crossing their own country's borders. Forced displacement causes uprooting, separating individuals from their environment, their property, and, in general, their way of life. It is a phenomenon that generates a complex threat and violation of constitutional rights—not only civil and political rights, but also economic, social, and cultural rights—and requires coordinated actions to protect the displaced population from a comprehensive perspective. The problem of internal displacement is not new in the country. However, it is necessary to recognize that armed conflict is not the only cause of internal displacement. Other factors can force people to leave their place of origin, their homes, and their territories against their will. One example of this, which is unfortunately becoming increasingly common, is internal displacement due to environmental factors, including those caused by disasters, the consequences of climate change, and environmental degradation.
Displacement due to environmental factors, as well as that caused by armed conflict, threatens and compromises the exercise of people's rights in a complex way, and is a situation that must also be addressed promptly by the State.
However, the phenomenon of displacement due to environmental factors has received little attention in the Colombian context. While the international community has begun to focus on internal displacement caused by environmental factors, including climate change, for some time now, the complexity of the phenomenon has not yet been recognized or addressed in domestic legislation, a situation that must be changed.
International agreements/treaties
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
- International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
- European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
- American Convention on Human Rights.
- African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.
- The Guiding Principles of Internal Displacement – Deng Principles (1998).
- Pinheiro Principles.
- Reports submitted by UN Special Rapporteurs on human rights and displacement due to environmental factors.
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
- Kyoto Protocol.
- Paris Agreement.
- Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
- Nansen's initiative.
- Peninsula Principles on Climate Displacement within States.
National laws
- Political Constitution of Colombia.
- Law 164
- Law 629
- Law 1448 of 2011 or Victims and Land Restitution Law
Beginning
- Prevention principle.
This record was created using publicly available information. If you have information about this case or would like to suggest updates or corrections, please click here .