Risk at the margins: A natural hazards perspective on the Syrian refugee crisis in Lebanon

Pollock, William; Wartman, Joseph; Abou-Jaoude, Grace; Grant, Alex

doi:10.1016/j.ijdrr.2018.11.026

Cited by 21 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…At present, there are around 70.8 million people who were forcibly displaced worldwide and among them 25.9 million are refugees (UNHCR 2018). In most occasions, the refugees are being hosted in developing countries where they live in ecologically degraded environment and areas highly vulnerable to natural hazards (Pollock et al 2019). To achieve the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it is essential to ensure the refugee populations' safety, reduce their disaster vulnerability, and protect the environment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of geospatial technologies in developing a dynamic landslide early warning system in a humanitarian context: the Rohingya refugee crisis in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

Ahmed

Rahman

Sammonds

et al. 2020

Geomatics, Natural Hazards and Risk

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Since August 2017, more than 744,400 stateless Rohingya refugeesan ethnic Muslim minority group from the Rakhine Statehave entered Bangladesh to escape serious crimes against humanity conducted by the Myanmar Army. Extensive level of deforestation and hill cutting activities took place in Cox's Bazar District (CBD) in Bangladesh to accommodate them. The refugee camps are sitting on hills and loose soil and are highly vulnerable to rainfall-triggered landslides. Notably in June 2017, landslides in the same region killed at least 160 people. From this perspective, the study aims to develop a localised landslide early warning system (EWS) for the Rohingya refugees and their host communities in CBD. A novel method, combining landslide inventory and susceptibility maps, rainfall thresholds and dynamic web-based alert system, has been introduced to develop the landslide early warning system (EWS) by applying advanced geoinformation techniques. Results suggest that approximately 5,800 hectares of forest land cover disappeared due to the 2017 Rohingya influx. Land cover changes through hill cutting andslope modifications, and unplanned urbanisation are predominantly responsible for slope failures and consecutive 5-day periods of rainfall between 95-220 mm could initiate landslides in high susceptible areas. The EWS would support the local authorities and international organisations in reducing disaster risks and saving lives from landslides in a humanitarian context.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of geospatial technologies in developing a dynamic landslide early warning system in a humanitarian context: the Rohingya refugee crisis in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

Ahmed

Rahman

Sammonds

et al. 2020

Geomatics, Natural Hazards and Risk

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“…Although physically-based models simplify landslide geometry and processes, our method significantly expands traditional infinite-slope-only hazard analyses and provides a modular framework into which refined mode-specific models can be added. Further limitations of the multimodal method are discussed in Pollock et al [53]. We perform a deterministic landslide hazard analysis of the country of Lebanon, commensurate with the level of input data presently available for the country.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We perform a deterministic landslide hazard analysis of the country of Lebanon, commensurate with the level of input data presently available for the country. Exposure values inferred from humanitarian and real estate data and published vulnerability estimates were combined with the landslide hazard to produce maps of landslide risk for the country of Lebanon (see [53]).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multimodal method for landslide risk analysis

et al. 2019

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“…Henceforth, the Rohingya population, mostly women and children, are forced to live in landslideprone campsites. In a similar context, Pollock et al (2019) found that the influx of over 1.5 million Syrian refugees increased the landslide risk profile of Lebanon, a mountainous country on the eastern Mediterranean, by 75%. The Syrian refugees, fleeing armed conflict in their home country, were forced to settle in informal camps in Lebanon where they were experiencing 9-11 times greater landslide risk compared with the local urban populations due to sub-standard shelter quality (Pollock et al, 2019).…”

Section: Landslide Vulnerability Of the Rohingya Refugeesmentioning

confidence: 93%

The root causes of landslide vulnerability in Bangladesh

Ahmed

2021

Landslides

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Communities living in the Chittagong Hill Districts (CHD) of Bangladesh recurrently observe landslide disasters during the monsoon season (June–September). CHD is primarily dominated by three distinct groups of hill communities, namely, urbanised hill (Bengali), indigenous tribal and stateless Rohingya refugees. Landslide vulnerability amongst them is complex and varies between physical, social, economic, environmental, institutional and cultural dimensions. This study aims to understand driving forces of landslide disasters in the region by emphasising human factors. Data from the three contrasting communities were collected through participatory workshops, in-depth interviews and fieldwork observation. The participants were local people and landslide experts who were purposefully selected from five case study communities in the CHD. They ranked different socio-economic problems, identified causes of landslides and proposed landslide mitigation action plans. Results suggest that the urbanised Bengali and Rohingya refugee communities are highly vulnerable to landslides. The urbanised hill communities largely deal with poverty, social injustice, lack of planning regulations and illegal hill cutting issues, whereas the Rohingya refugees’ predominant constraints are linked to the ongoing genocide and state-sponsored violence in Myanmar hindering their sustainable repatriation, and their protracted living conditions in Bangladesh. The indigenous tribal communities are comparatively resilient to landslides due to their unique history, traditional knowledge, cultural heritage and lifestyle. Landslides in the CHD should be characterised as socio-natural hazards since the components of landslide disasters are profoundly intertwined with the culture–conflict–corruption nexus.

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Risk at the margins: A natural hazards perspective on the Syrian refugee crisis in Lebanon

Cited by 21 publications

References 34 publications

Application of geospatial technologies in developing a dynamic landslide early warning system in a humanitarian context: the Rohingya refugee crisis in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

Application of geospatial technologies in developing a dynamic landslide early warning system in a humanitarian context: the Rohingya refugee crisis in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

Multimodal method for landslide risk analysis

The root causes of landslide vulnerability in Bangladesh

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