The psychological impacts of disasters can be profound and enduring, especially when people are displaced from their homes. Fear may arise in anticipation of future physical dangers, or derive from traumatic memories which are relived in the present. International protection decision-makers have been slow to grapple with psychological harm and its temporal dimensions – even though international refugee and human rights law clearly recognise that such harm may constitute persecution, torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
This does not require doctrinal innovation, but rather a more rigorous application of existing legal standards.