ABSTRACT
There are (at least) three main reasons why people compelled to flee across borders in the context of disaster displacement hardly receive protection in the EU. These are: (1) misconceptions regarding the nature of disaster displacement, the actors involved, the severity of harm caused by disaster displacement, and the responsibility of the State in preventing disasters as well as in protecting its people in case of displacement; (2) challenges in the application and interpretation of the legal provisions concerning international protection in the context of disaster displacement-related claims; and (3) barriers to asylum implemented by the EU and its Member States with strategic third countries that impinge on the right of people displaced in the context of disasters to reach the EU and claim asylum. This introductory chapter explains the aim of the book while illustrating its structure and conceptual framework. In addition, it clarifies the choice of elevating vulnerability as framed in ethics and feminist philosophy as a key methodological lens to study the phenomenon of disaster displacement.
