The Impact of Climate Change on Statelessness in the Southern African Region is therefore the only remaining option. It may also not be possible for affected persons to migrate internally where population density does not allow it, as is the case in Bangladesh, or where the entire territory of the country is affected by the same problem. Somalia has been plagued by the worst drought the nation has seen in over four decades. Over one million persons have been displaced due to the harsh climate and uninhabitable land.63 In such instances, affected person would be forced to migrate across borders. In the case of Somalia, persons may even be forced to cross multiple borders, as many of the other states in the region are also drought-stricken.64 Unlike rapid-onset disasters, such displacement is more likely to be permanent, as the reason for the displacement is the land becoming uninhabitable.65 Such protracted displacement scenarios place persons at an increased risk of statelessness.66 (e) Conflict due to the impacts of climate change Conflict has historically been thought of as one of the biggest contributors to crossborder displacement.68 While this is true, recent research suggests that much of this conflict may, in fact, be driven by the impacts of climate change.68 For instance, where resources are limited due to drought or increasing water salinisation due to sea-level rise, conflict over these limited resources may lead to displacement.70 Links have been found between repeated internal displacement due to disasters and conflict in states such as Mozambique and Angola.70 Persons who flee this conflict into foreign states are also at risk of becoming stateless. In all the above scenarios, from rapid-onset disasters to climate change-driven UNHCR ‘Somalis abandon their homes in search of food, water and aid as drought deepens’ 29 September 2022, available at https://www.unhcr.org/news/stories/2022/9/633419134/somalis-abandon-homes-search-food-water-aiddrought-deepens.html, accessed on 03 October 2022. 64 Shazia Chaudhry & James Ouda ‘Perspective on the rights of climate migrants in the Horn of Africa: A case study of Somalia’ (2021) 8 Journal of Somali Studies at 13. 65 Walter Kälin op cit note 39 at 89 and 90. 66 Ajwang Warria ‘Stateless transnational migrant children in South Africa: Implications and opportunities for social work intervention’ (2020) 6 AHMR at 6. 67 Fatima Khan & Nandi Rayner ‘A historical overview of forcibly displaced persons in Southern Africa (2011–2020): Realising the expectations of the Global Compact on Refugees’ Reference Paper for the 70th Anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention 2020, available at https://www.unhcr.org/people-forced-to-flee-book/wp-content/uploads/ sites/137/2021/10/Fatima-Khan-and-Nandi-Rayner-_A-historical-overview-of-forcibly-displaced-persons-in-Southern-Africa.pdf, accessed on 19 September 2022. See also Allison J Petrozziello ‘Statelessness as a product of slippery statecraft: A global governance view of current causes, actors and debates’ (2019) 1 Statelessness & Citizenship Review at 136. IPCC Annual Report 5, 2014 at 16, available at https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/SYR_AR5_FINAL_full. pdf, accessed on 10 October 2022. See also UNFCCC Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts ‘Technical Meeting Action Area 6: Migration, displacement and human mobility’ 2016 at 3, available at https://unfccc.int/files/adaptation/groups_committees/loss_and_damage_executive_committee/application/pdf/excom_iom_technical_meeting_aa6_pillar_2_coordination_and_coherence.pdf, accessed on 10 October 2022. 68 IPCC Annual Report 5, 2014 at 16, available at https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/SYR_AR5_FINAL_ full.pdf, accessed on 10 October 2022. See also UNFCCC Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts ‘Technical Meeting Action Area 6: Migration, displacement and human mobility’ 2016 at 3, available at https://unfccc.int/files/adaptation/groups_committees/loss_and_damage_executive_committee/application/pdf/excom_iom_technical_meeting_aa6_pillar_2_coordination_and_coherence. pdf, accessed on 10 October 2022. 69 Shazia Chaudhry & James Ouda op cit note 64 at 24. 70 Leah A Ndimurwimo & Leonard C Opara ‘Access to justice for internally displaced persons: The global legal order’ (2019) 6 Journal of Law Society and Development at 8. 63 105