(FUVEST - 2006 - 1 FASE )Australians are not known
(FUVEST - 2006 - 1 FASE )
Australians are not known for their love of boat people.
They famously turned away a small group of Afghan refugees at the height of the war and rather amusingly, ran a scare campaign featuring crocodiles and sharks to deter would-be immigrants. But if global warming continues at its current rate, neighbouring Pacific islands could be lost to floods and Australia will be facing a new kind of intruder: climate refugees.
Although the Red Cross produced a report four years ago estimating that 58 per cent of refugees are caused by environmental factors, no one has made any attempt to tackle the issue. Oxford University’s Norman Myers recently claimed that there could be an estimated 150 million environmental refugees within the next 50 years, and half of these could land on Australia’s doorstep. But the UN refuses to grant them refugee status, and aid groups and environmentalists squabble over whose responsibility they are.
DAZED & CONFUSED July 2005
Which of these statements is true according to the passage?
It has been estimated that 58% of the refugees living in Australia are war refugees.
The Red Cross started a campaign for the cause of environmental refugees in 2001.
Norman Myers estimates that as many as 150 million climate refugees may invade Australia in the coming decades.
In 2001, it was reported that over half of the world’s refugees are climate refugees.
Aid groups and environmentalists have often been prevented from helping climate refugees.
