Contents

Foreword xii

Ringraziamenti xvi

Acknowledgments xviii

Introduction 1

I.1 Introduction 1

I.2 Conceptual framework 2

I.2.1 Vulnerability: A taxonomy 3

I.2.2 Vulnerability as a conceptual lens 6

I.3 Structure of the book 8

1 Misconceptions of disaster displacement 9

1.1 Introduction: Features of disaster displacement 9

1.2 Legal frameworks concerning disasters and disaster

displacement 12

1.2.1 Blurry boundaries: Different definitions of “disasters” at the international level 13

1.2.2 Disasters’ legal and operational frameworks at the EU level 16

1.2.3 Disaster displacement in international frameworks 19

1.2.4 Disaster displacement in the EU legal order 22

1.3 Framing disasters through vulnerability lenses 30

1.4 Rethinking the impact of disaster displacement through vulnerability lenses 32

1.5 Disaster displacement due to man-made hazards 35

1.6 Concluding remarks 37

2 Challenges in applying and interpreting international

protection in the context of disaster displacement 39

2.1 Introduction: EU asylum law 39

2.1.1 The Qualification Directive: Drifting international refugee law and EU asylum law apart 42

2.1.2 The refugee definition: Interpretations and relevant judicial developments by the CJEU 43

2.1.3 The lights and shadows of the principle of

non-refoulement 47

2.2 A detailed definition of “persecution” 49

2.3 “It’s a no go”: Disaster displacement’s exclusion from

the refugee status 53

2.3.1 Implications 56

2.4 The Internal Protection Alternative 60

2.4.1 The IPA under the Qualification Regulation 62

2.4.2 The IPA and the risk of indirect refoulement 63

2.5 “Not severe enough”: Disasters and the Internal Protection Alternative 65

2.5.1 Implications 68

2.6 Subsidiary protection 69

2.7 Serious harm 70

2.7.1 Article 15a 71

2.7.2 Article 15b 71

2.7.3 Article 15c 79

2.8 “Not in the list”: Disaster displacement as falling beyond subsidiary protection 80

2.8.1 Implications 81

2.9 Concluding remarks 86

3 State-led barriers to asylum and disaster displacement 89

3.1 Introduction: Disaster displacement and access to protection 89

3.2 Deterrence paradigm in EU migration and asylum policies 92

3.3 Departure prevention 95

3.3.1 National development cooperation strategies 96

3.3.2 Implications 100

3.4 Non-admission policies 101

3.4.1 The “safe country notion” in the Asylum Procedures Regulation 103

3.4.2 Implications 111

3.5 Externalization arrangements 113

3.5.1 Implications 115

3.6 Concluding remarks 116

4 Practices of protection against disaster displacement

across the world: Insights from Europe and Italy 117

4.1 Introduction: A regional analysis of protection responses to disaster displacement 117

4.2 Non-refoulement obligations in the context of disaster

displacement 118

4.2.1 Teitiota v New Zealand 119

4.2.2 The ICJ’s 2025 Advisory Opinion on Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change 123

4.3 Africa and Middle East 124

4.4 The Americas 128

4.5 Asia 132

4.6 The Pacific 134

4.7 Europe 137

4.7.1 Policies and ad hoc practices 138

4.7.2 Law 139

4.7.3 Case law: Regional Courts 141

4.7.4 Case law: Domestic Courts 142

4.8 Italy 146

4.8.1 Italian migration law 146

4.8.2 Italian case law 151

4.8.3 Italian policies 159

4.9 Concluding remarks 161

5 Conclusion: The way forward: Counteracting approaches to challenges to protection in the context of disaster

displacement in the EU 165

5.1 Introduction: Persisting challenges to protection in the context of disaster displacement in the EU 165

5.2 Endorsing a contemporary understanding of disasters 166

5.3 Embracing an evolutive approach toward international protection norms 168

5.4 Abandoning the logic of deterrence 170

Bibliography 173

Index 199