CANBERRA, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Australia is set for a possible influx of climate refugees as a result of rising sea levels in the Indo-Pacific, the military warned.
In an internal briefing from 2018 published by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Monday, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) predicted that it would have to increase sea patrols off the nation's north coast in response to an increase in "sea-borne migration."
In the document, the ADF predicted that climate change could "exacerbate the potential for conflict" and conceded that it does not have an overarching strategy to address global warming.
Chris Barrie, a former senior officer in the Royal Australian Navy, told the ABC that Australia could become the "land of opportunity" for climate refugees.
"I once suggested to the government we might be talking 100 million people," Barrie said. "Frankly, it would be beyond our resources."
The ABC also requested ADF documents relating to the impact of rising sea levels on training areas but was denied.
"Release of this information could reasonably be expected to cause damage to the ability of the Defence Force to remain an effective force as well as potentially providing an avenue through which foreign incursions could significantly impact our critical infrastructure," the defence force said.
ADF officials told a Senate hearing in 2018 that training bases could be damaged by coastal erosion in the short to medium term.
