12 pc displaced permanently in last two decades: study

Climate change has affected seriously the livelihood of coastal population of the country as nearly 12 per cent people have already been displaced because of adverse effects of natural disasters, a study, released Monday, said.
It said the government should pay serious attention for rehabilitation of the displaced people in the country. It pleaded for ensuring proper distribution of khas land among the affected people for bringing them into the development process.
The study titled 'Bangladesh Housing, Land and Property (HLP) Rights Initiative; Climate Displacement in Bangladesh: Stakeholders, Laws and Policies - Mapping the Existing Institutional Framework', conducted by the Young Power in Social Action (YPSA), a non-governmental organisation, was unwrapped at a roundtable on the day at the CIRDAP auditorium in the city.
However, the research also said that natural disasters cost the country a total of US $1,832.70 million from 242 extreme weather events between 1993 and 2012.
Chairman of the parliamentary standing committee for environment and forest ministry Dr Hasan Mahmud and Professor and Chairman, the Department of Development Studies, Dhaka University Dr Niaz Ahmed Khan, among others, spoke at the roundtable discussion on climate displaced persons, organised by the YPSA.
Team Leader of YPSA Mohammad Shahjahan presented a synopsis of the study which revealed that among the 40 million people of 26 coastal districts, 13 per cent belong to never-displaced category, 46 per cent to the temporarily-displaced, 29 per cent in between temporary and permanent displacement and about 12 per cent permanently displaced due to different hazards in the last two decades.
The study also predicted that loss of coastal land to the sea would be 3 per cent by 2030 and 6 per cent by 2050 which may further trigger steady exodus of displaced people.
Another data showed that in 1991 cyclone, around 4 per cent of people of the country and 15 per cent in the coastal regions were displaced from their homes.
Size of islands Bhola, Kutubdia, Dhalghat of Maheshkhali and Sandip was reduced by up to 50 per cent while population also dropped in many of these islands, the research findings said.
Dr Niaz Ahmed said Bangladesh is one of the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and the situation is set to worsen further as a result of climate change.
One of the most catastrophic effects of climate change is climate displacement - the displacement of persons from their homes and lands as a result of the effects of climate change, he said.
He also said it is equally essential that different stakeholders in Bangladesh and in the regional and international communities contribute to ensure the implementation of a truly effective institutional framework through financial and technical cooperation.
However, monitoring and evaluation of the legal and policy responses to climate displacement is also necessary, he said.
Dr Hasan Mahmud said although it is difficult to agree on the precise number of persons who will be affected by climate displacement in Bangladesh, it is clear that the country must put in place a comprehensive institutional framework in order to meet this challenge and to ensure that the rights of all climate displaced persons are protected.
However, the report recommended seven steps that could be taken by the government of Bangladesh and by national, regional and international stakeholders, in order to create and implement a truly effective and coordinated response to climate displacement in Bangladesh.
It recommended undertaking of a comprehensive review of existing national laws and policies and to design and implement rights-based national laws and policies.
It also suggested for undertaking a review and re-design of the existing institutional framework and to design and implement domestic land solutions. Increasing coordination and knowledge sharing among international and regional donors are also mandatory, it said.