Although internal migration is a common phenomena in Bangladesh, about 30 percent decisions on migration are influenced by environmental stresses triggered by global climate change, according to a study.
The study also reveals that about 42 percent of people do not know if environmental stresses influenced their decisions of migration.
The Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) of Dhaka University and the Sussex Centre for Migration Research (SCMR) of Sussex University, UK, jointly conducted the research in Bangladesh.
Founder chair of RMMRU Dr Tasneem Siddiqui disclosed the key findings of the research, titled ‘Climate Change and Migration in Bangladesh’ at a workshop at a city hotel on Wednesday morning.
The field survey of research has been conducted in five districts since February 2012, which include both origins and destinations of migrated people. The origin areas of migration are Munshiganj (riverbank erosion and flood-prone areas) Chapainawabgani (drought-prone) and Satkhira (cyclone-prone areas), while the destinations are Dhaka and Khulna.
The study revealed that about 75 percent of household faced different types of environmental stresses in their dwellings at different times of their lives and over half of them faced multiple stresses.
During the field survey, the respondents on average changed their homesteads or relocated those 3.19 times during their life-time. About 24 percent categorically stated that climate change did not have any bearing on their migration decisions.
The study projected that the future long-term outmigration will be of 9.6 million from the regions exposed to riverbank erosion, inland flooding and coastal storm surge during the 2011-2050 period.
It recommended taking a comprehensive internal migration policy to protect the rights of internal migration. The policy should include wages, working hours of garment workers, and working conditions in brick kilns, security, health hazards and minimum wages of construction workers.
Additional secretary of Environment and Forests Ministry Dr Aparup Chowdhury, additional secretary of Expatriate Welfare and Oversea Employment Ministry Hazrat Ali and Daily Star editor Mahfuz Anam at the inaugural session of the workshop. (Source: UNB)
