Academics, researchers and climate change experts on Tuesday urged the government to adopt the national strategy to prevent, protect and re-settle the climate induced internally displaced people through inter-ministerial actions.
Speaking at a day-long national workshop at BRAC Centre, they said that forced displacement driven by disasters and climate change poses potential threats to the country's national security and stability.
They also said that Bangladesh -- as the top-ranking country in the world -- is facing adverse consequences of climate change that would lead millions of people to be internally displaced.
The Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) organised the workshop in collaboration with Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS), International Centre for Climate Change and Development, Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Research and Raoul Wallenberg Institute (RWI).
State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Dr Md Enamur Rahman was the chief guest at the closing session and said that the government would adopt the updated national strategy to manage the disaster and climate induced internal displacement.
The strategy outlined the actions for creating necessary policy framework and pathways to meet the commitment to United Nations (UN) Platform on Disaster Displacement, he said.
'We will take this document for the inter-ministerial review. We believe that the National Strategy-once adopted-will guide us to better prepare, plan and respond to short-term and long-term needs of displacement,' said Enamur Rahman while speaking on the occasion.
Tasneem Siddiqui, RMMRU founding chair and Dhaka University professor, said that the national strategy was a right-based document which has been updated to help the government to attain sustainable development goals (SDGs).
She suggested the government to form a national taskforce on internal displacement.
During the workshop, findings of the recently conducted 'Regional thematic study on displacement in the context of disasters and climate change in Asia and the Pacific' were also revealed.
The study was conducted in ten countries across the Asia-Pacific region including Bangladesh, and it was led by Raoul Wallenberg the Institute (RWI) of Sweden. Matthew Scott of RWI presented the key findings from the study.
"Our research closely examined the strategies, laws and policies in the 10 countries including Bangladesh," said Matthew Scott of RWI.
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