According to a recent study, in 2018, there were 63 physical walls built worldwide. Since the fall of Berlin wall in 1989, a growing number of countries constructed fences and walls to monitor and stop human movements into their territories (Benedicto et al., 2020; Brown, 2010; Carter & Poast, 2017). During that period, migrants' numbers nonetheless have continued to increase, estimated at 281 million in 2020 (IOM, 2022). In parallel with those developments, in recent years, the effect of climate change on human societies has become increasingly evident. As a result, scholars, as well as political leaders, have begun to ask whether migration patterns are related to climate change. Can the expanding effects of climate change, growing numbers of international migrants, and the increasing construction of border barriers be tied together? My paper addresses this broad question through the Israeli case study. I look at how Israel's public discourse and policy toward asylum seekers from Eritrea and Sudan between 2005 and 2018 framed their immigration and to what extent climatic migration has been considered.
Compared to the substantial research that focuses on the migrants' countries of origin and the factors that contribute to their mobility (de Sherbinin et al., 2022; Piguet, 2022), studies of immigrants' destination countries do not receive adequate attention. In its last report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), paid much attention to climate-induced migration. The report stressed the need to address the framing of climate immigrants in "migrant-receiving areas." Furthermore, it emphasized the lack of research on the policies adopted by these areas in response to climate migration (IPCC, 2022, p.1117).
The current mainstream in scientific discourse considers climate mobilities as an adaptation strategy to the rapidly accelerating climate change. Meaning that migration is a positive and healthy reaction of human societies adjusting to changes, including environmental ones (Black et al., 2011; Haas, 2021; McAdam, 2010). In Western media and public discourse, however, climate migration is still largely framed as a security problem and a substantial threat (Bettini, 2013; Boas, 2015). A more critical view sees migration as another form of climate injustice perpetrated by the Global North, disproportionately affecting the Global South (Gonzalez, 2020). These different approaches reflect the uncertainties regarding the complex relationship between human mobility and environmental-climatic changes.
Since 2005, over 64,225 asylum seekers from Eritrea and Sudan have crossed the Israeli border illegally from Egypt (Population & Immigration Authority, 2022). Many of them applied or tried to apply for the status of refugees as they fled their homelands. Initially, the Israeli public and political discourse took a sympathetic approach, embracing the immigrants – who arrived from the war-stricken area of Darfur – as asylum seekers fleeing mass massacres (Harel, 2015). However, with time, and as the stream of asylum seekers crossing the border to Israel increased, other voices became more conspicuous; policymakers started changing their attitude, and the general public atmosphere turned negative (Hochman, 2017; Tsurkov, 2012). In 2010, the Israeli government decided to build a barrier on its southern border. By mid-2013, the project was completed in record time and with the investment of billions of shekels. The wall that was built along the peaceful border (since the peace agreement with Egypt in 1979) aimed solely at stopping the "infiltrators". Indeed, the Israeli obstacle largely managed to stop the entry of new asylum seekers.
International leaders such as the former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (Ki Moon, 2013), as well as several researchers (de Juan, 2015; de Waal, 2005; Faris, 2007; Sachs, 2006, 2007), have linked between the ongoing political instability in origin areas of asylum seekers who came to Israel and climate factors. Furthermore, according to forecasts, the entire region surrounding Israel will be severely affected by climate change. By 2050, the amount of water per capita in the area will be reduced by half. Consequently, changes in the life of rural populations in the Middle East are likely to take place, including emigration. (Rabinowitz, 2020). Israel stands out in the region as a relatively stable and prosperous country both economically and politically. An OECD country, it has a high standard of living and is a developed economy. In addition, Israel is considered a liberal democracy, where the public and political exchange is relatively open and free. Considering these indicators, Israel is expected to attract immigration, both forced and voluntary.
The ongoing Israeli-Arab conflict shapes Israel's self-perception as a country that must continually defend itself and guard its borders against invasion. The arrival of immigrants from Africa, however, challenged the perception of the Israeli society and its government. The migrants from Sudan and Eritrea that Israel encountered did not fit the usual profile of its enemies. Are they "refugees" who fled wars and came to seek asylum, "infiltrators" with bad intentions, or "migrants" looking for a better life? This confusion fueled public and political debates in Israel over how they should be treated. Within these discussions, it was also suggested, albeit somewhat in the margins, that they are "climate refugees" who fled their homeland because of climate change (Megama Yeroka, 2018).
In this paper I analyze the Israeli policy and public discourses toward the issue of climate migration through the lenses of the arrival of asylum seekers from Eritrea and Sudan. I base my analysis on the critical securitization theory (Buzan et al., 1998; Wæver, 2011) and explore how climatic migration is framed and discussed in Israel's official policy documents, think tank reports, newspapers, and more. Special attention is paid to discourses related to Israel's border fortification – the wall on Israel's border with Egypt and Israel's other borders. I explore three main questions: To what extent Israel has taken climate-induced immigration into account so far? What policies and "solutions" are being proposed to address this issue in the future? And which approaches are taken to frame this phenomenon?
Tal Ulus - Biography
Tal is a postdoctoral fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a member of The Wall (an ERC-funded project). Tal's research focuses on the impacts of climatic events on human societies. Her current study focuses on climate-driven migration, the securitization of climate change, as well as the perceptions of and policies toward climate-induced migration in destination countries. Her recent publication: "How long and how strong must a climatic anomaly be in order to evoke a social transformation? Historical and contemporaneous case studies," appeared last year in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (DOI: 10.1057/s41599-021-00933-4). In addition, Tal is a manager and coordinator of The Ronnie Ellenblum Jerusalem History Knowledge Center, a collaboration between the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, The National Library of Israel, and Israel Antiquities Authority.