World Bank: let climate-threatened Pacific islanders migrate to Australia or NZ

World Bank argues structured migration program would prevent forced migration in future generations

Australia and New Zealand should allow open migration for citizens of Pacific nations threatened by climate change, to boost struggling island economies and prevent a later mass forced migration, a paper from the World Bank argues.

The policy paper, Pacific Possible, suggests as one climate change adaptation measure, open access migration from Tuvalu and Kiribati - for work and permanent settlement - to Australia and New Zealand.