Libya’s city of Derna was already host to migrants – its floods have now created a new generation of climate refugees. Khadija, her relatives, the 20 or so other families at the school they’re sheltering in, and the hundreds sheltering elsewhere are now “climate refugees”, the informal term used for those displaced by environmental disasters. International law doesn’t recognise climate refugeesDiscerning just how many of Derna’s 8,000 refugees were climate refugees, and how many Libyans have now become climate refugees due to the floods, is a challenge – largely because that term doesn’t exist under international law. Among the 40,000 people displaced in Libya’s floods, many moved to towns and villages further east and several hundred moved west, said Pugliese. Back in Derna, Khadijah is resolute that she and her family cannot stay at the school much longer.

Source: Libya Today November 12, 2023 12:55 UTC