Migration, Development and Natural Disasters

Book excerpt: According to the present report, the recent Asian tsunami highlights the need to take migrant communities, both regular and irregular, into account when planning for natural disasters in order to ensure they are treated in accordance with the core principles of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. The report concludes that a number of measures need to be taken to ensure that migrants are fairly treated in the aftermath of a disaster, including the setting up of systems to monitor their immediate, medium and long-term well-being.