Nature and extent of population displacement due to climate change‐triggered disasters in the south‐western coastal region of Bangladesh

Abstract

Purpose – Climate change impacts people ' s life directly or indirectly in several ways and displacement is one such indirect effect. This paper aims to bring this fact to light as Bangladesh is going to face severe problems due to displacement of population predicted by researchers. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is an outcome of a thorough study of Bogi village in the southwestern coastal region of Bangladesh. Several factors like demographic condition, natural disasters, land loss and changes in land use pattern, have been taken into consideration. Methods used for data collection were questionnaire survey and focus group discussions in the study area. Findings – The nature and extent of displacement are found by comparing the changes in occupation, location of settlement and permanent migration of family members. Population growth rate decreased in recent years as the annual growth rate for both sexes was 0.89 in between 1991 and 2001 but in recent years from 2001 to 2005 it was 0.63, which is a clear indication that the natural growth is hampered or major proportion of the population is migrating. Originality/value – The paper provides insights into the major reasons for displacement, especially loss of land and occupation caused by cyclone, storm surge and erosion. The assessment of the conditions allows the listing of measures to address the problem.

Climate Change, Agriculture and Migration: A Survey

“…Inter-provincial migration of households due to temperature anomalies was observed in Indonesia [68] and, for male migrants, in the case of Pakistan [65]. Furthermore, in a study concerning the US [69], as well as in other studies at the micro-level, climate shocks, as captured by measures of temperature, humidity, and wind, have been shown to result in short-distance internal migration [52,60,70,71].…”

Linking Coastal Disasters and Migration: A Case Study of Kutubdia Island, Bangladesh

“…1 On 4 August 2012, full moon high tides and high winds caused saline water from the Bay of Bengal to overtop and breach parts of these embankments in southeastern Kutubdia Island and flood twenty of the twenty-nine shortage of drinking water. Although several studies (e.g., Kartiki 2011;Penning-Rowsell, Sultana, and Thompson 2011;Mallick andVogt 2012, 2013;Salauddin and Ashikuzzaman 2012) have investigated slow-onset, disaster-induced migration from coastal Bangladesh, little is known about the migration decision-making process among residents of island communities that are impacted by rapid-onset environmental disasters. To fill this research gap, this study examines the response of the affected households in Kutubdia Island to the coastal erosion and flood events of 4 August 2012.…”

Climate change, migration and human rights in Bangladesh: Perspectives on governance

“…Therefore, in reality, 'migration occurs in response to multiple pressures, and it is difficult to isolate environmental pressures from ongoing economic ones' (Kartiki, 2011: 28). It has been projected by different organisations that disasters stemming from climate change have important effects on long-term population mobility in rural Bangladesh (Salauddin and Ashikuzzaman, 2011). A comprehensive survey conducted in 2010 by the Association of Climate Refugees, along with over 200 community-based organisations, revealed that around 6.5 million people (1.3 million households) have already been displaced in Bangladesh due to the effects of climate change (Leckie et al, 2011;Call et al, 2017).…”