Australia has violated the human rights of a group of Torres Strait Islanders by failing to adequately protect them from the impacts of climate change, a United Nations committee has found.

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The groundbreaking finding by the UN Human Rights Committee was made in response to a complaint filed in 2019 by eight Torres Strait Islanders from the small, low-lying islands of Boigu, Poruma, Warraber and Masig.

Rising sea levels have already damaged food sources and ancestral burial sites on the islands, scattering human remains and putting homes at risk of being submerged, the Islanders argued.

The committee said Australia had violated two of their three human rights set out in a UN treaty, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) — the right to enjoy their culture and be free from arbitrary interferences with their private life, family and home — but not their right to life.

Some 173 of the 193 UN member states have ratified the covenant, including Australia.

There is no enforcement mechanism but there are follow-up steps, and states generally comply with the committee’s findings.

The UN Human Rights Committee called for the Australian government to provide the islanders with an effective remedy.

‘Stand and fight for our future generations’

Yessie Mosby, one of the Torres Strait Islander claimants from Masig Island, said he was speechless at the news.

“I am over the moon. I thank the heavenly father, I thank my ancestors and I thank all the people who fought and helped in this case,” he said.

“This morning when I woke up on Masig, I saw that the sky was full of frigid birds. In my culture, we take this as a sign from my ancestors that we would be hearing good news very soon about this case.”

Mr Mosby said it had been a long journey since the group first lodged its landmark complaint three years ago.

“Still to this present day, we [have] seen a lot of our homes being eaten away,” he told the ABC.

He said he had decided to lodge the complaint after finding his great-grandmother’s remains unearthed by rising seas.

“We were picking her up like shells off the beach,” he said. “That drove me to stand and fight for our future generations.”

Mr Mosby said he hoped the outcome would help other climate-affected communities around the world seek justice and protection.

“This fight … is not only for our people but for all people who suffer against climate change,” he said.

“If we can fight to save our home, then they can fight to save their homes as well, knowing that the door now has already been opened,” he said.

Australian climate lawyer Sophie Marjanac, who acted for the claimants, called the decision a “historic victory for climate justice”.

“This case opens the door for further legal actions and compensation claims by other climate-affected people, and will give hope to those fighting for loss and damage at this year’s international climate talks in Egypt.

“Nations can no longer hide behind the myth that climate change is a collective problem and that they are free of legal obligation.”

Decision ‘creates a pathway’ for action

The case brought by the Torres Strait Islander group, known as the “Torres Strait 8”, is one of a growing body of climate cases already being brought around the world on human rights grounds.

“This decision marks a significant development, as the committee has created a pathway for individuals to assert claims where national systems have failed to take appropriate measures to protect those most vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change on the enjoyment of their human rights,” committee member Hélène Tigroudja said. 

The Morrison government had called for the case to be dismissed, saying there was insufficient evidence that the consequences of climate change would affect the islanders’ enjoyment of their rights.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the Albanese government was committed to working with Torres Strait Islanders on climate change.

“Soon after the change of government, the Prime Minister, the Minister for Indigenous Affairs and the Minister for Climate Change and Energy travelled to the Torres Strait to talk with elders and owners about the impacts of climate change on them,” Mr Dreyfus said.

“The Australian government is considering the committee’s views and will provide its response in due course.”

ABC/Reuters