Cyclone Aila and environmental refugee
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Abu Nasar Abdullah
The global impact of the environment on human livelihoods is creating a new kind of casualty: environmental refugees. Rising sea levels, increasing desertification, flooding, and more frequent natural disasters like cyclone have become a major cause of population displacement in many parts of the world. The number of refugees worldwide grew from 9.9 million in 2007 to 11.4 million in 2008, according to a report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which identified climate change as one of the leading causes of the global rise in refugees, along with conflict and escalating food prices. According to the International Red Cross, climate change disasters are now a bigger cause of population displacement than war and persecution. According to a report published by the United Nations University, there are now about 19.2 million people officially recognised as "persons of concern," people who are likely to be displaced because of environmental disasters. This figure is predicted to grow to about 50 million by the end of the year 2010.
The cyclone 'Aila' of May 25 has left a trail of devastations along the coastal districts of Bangladesh. Although it was forecast that there would be minimum damage on account of the impact of the cyclone, but in reality the damage caused to the lives and properties was enormous. The entire coastal belt witnessed a human tragedy after the cyclone. Tidal surge swept away hundreds and thousands of homesteads, cattle, and standing crops. After visiting the affected areas, high officials of the government and non-government organisations (NGOs) said that the damage on account of the cyclone 'Aila' is no less colossal than that of Sidr that had hit the coastal districts two years ago. According to official figures, the cyclone on May 25 damaged 1,742.53 kilometres of embankments, crops on about 3.23 lakh acres of land, 157 bridges and culverts and destroyed about 1.5 lakh livestock. The cyclone Aila flattened mud houses, uprooted trees and tidal surges hit the country's coastal areas, displacing about four hundred thousand people of five southern districts who were moved to cyclone shelters, schools and embankments of the Water Development Board. The cyclone-hit farmers have already suffered a huge loss in Aman production because of saline water-logging in a few upazilas, including the badly affected Koyra in Khulna, as the damaged embankments are yet to be repaired.
My personal experiences in the Koyra are that poor people and their communities are usually the most vulnerable to cyclone-induced disasters. Even without disasters, these poor people suffer the most due to inequitable access and distribution of resources, powerlessness due to oppressive relationships and constant disappointments, or failure of governmental and institutional mechanisms to respond to poverty. When these people are faced with natural disasters, they are the ones who have the least capacity to survive and who struggle the most to be rehabilitated.
Migration, whether permanent or temporary, has always been a traditional response or survival strategy of the people confronting the prospect, impact or aftermath of disasters. The complex nature of the cyclone Aila in Koyra upazila caused the uprooting of large numbers of people. The interplay of social and economic factors in the environment (such as shrimp aquaculture), the vulnerability of the people as well as the environment in the face of the destruction of the coastal embankments and waterlogging of the vast area aggravated the problem. Virtually the entire population of the upazila has been displaced, a large proportion (basically poor) of it perhaps permanently. Most local displacement by cyclone Aila tends to be temporary, but may become permanent, particularly if this disaster permanently alters or destroys the local economic base. The government decision for rehabilitation and providing food and employment during the winter after water recedes and embankments reconstructed will be the key issues. Many of the emerging cyclone trends and characteristics, failure to reconstruct the embankments and local politics will very likely increase the number and scale of forced migrations in the relatively near future. The combination of increasing population, increasing poverty and destruction of shrimp aquaculture-led local economy will increase the probability of forced migration. The most visible impact on the children in this cyclone disaster is the increased ratio of dropout from schools. Schools were inundated by the tidal surges and used as shelters for affected people. They are closed down temporarily for three months. The children, who have no opportunity to attend schools, support their parents by taking charge of fishing, collecting relief, or migrate to cities looking for casual employment. Many children from the very poor families, whose parents are displaced or without work, are sent to beg. However, many well-off families migrated for providing education to the children as the educational infrastructures have been destroyed and there is no sign of early recovery.
It is also realised that longer-term support is required to rebuild the lives of the people who had suffered during the cyclone and also to stop this migration. The cyclone created circumstances that changed the whole shape of the livelihoods framework of the poor. The change increased their vulnerability in the short-term and only the rehabilitation process could change the situation for the bertter. Good baseline vulnerability and capacity data prior to a disaster is a major component of a successful relief and rehabilitation response. However, vulnerability affects different people in different ways. It is possible to map these different vulnerabilities and to prepare for hazards that affect them. For this local sub/district administration and NGOs should have prepared good baseline survey reports, identifying vulnerabilities and livelihoods assets of the poor, distressed and marginal people. The situation highlighted by the survey and the increased information about the poor will result in better relief and rehabilitation work. Cyclone-led disasters affect different people in different ways. The most prepared, enabled and empowered people are able to avoid, cope with, or adapt to these changes better. The poor, however, are often unaware of the potential danger or are unwilling or unable to respond to the crisis. They are often the ones who are hit the hardest during the disaster, are least able to make use of the support services that arrive and have the least resilience to the hostile situation they find themselves in. This is also true for Aila-hit people in Koyra upazila where 0.3m people are faced a terrible monsoon weather with completely inadequate shelter. Having suffered from the cyclone once, they also suffered from inundation caused by high tide and inadequate shelters.
Cyclone Aila displacees experience uprooting and relocation and must cope with the consequent stresses and they need to adapt to new or radically changed environments. They have become environmental refugee as they have been displaced from their original homesteads for the last five months. To the degree that disasters force people to relocate themselves, either temporarily or permanently, disaster victims have been treated as a subset of the category of environmental refugees, a term that has recently generated a considerable amount of debate. Many may experience privation, loss of homes, jobs, and even the breakup of families (particularly women and children) and communities. The Water Development Board should immediately rebuild the coastal embankment. Otherwise, large-scale migration will occur. Local political leaders, irrespective of party affiliation, should be united to reconstruct the damaged embankments. Checking corruption in this rebuilding process is a great challenge for the local government. The government and NGOs must mobilise social and cultural resources in their efforts to reestablish viable social groups and communities and to restore adequate levels of material life. The government and NGOs should start microcredit immediately for creating opportunities of earning from different sources.
The effects of global climate changes, including increased risks of flooding, cyclones, tidal surges, storms, deforestation, desertification, soil erosion, and sea level rise increase the probability of disasters. This, in turn, will cause and permanent forced migration. In this context, the catastrophic losses from Aila highlight the urgent need of developing the conceptual, strategic and material tools to confront the increasing challenges of natural hazards.
The writer is doing PhD on Livelihood and Environment theme under the Charles Darwin University, Australia and member of 20th BCS Administrative Cadre. He can be contracted at abdullah6677@yahoo.co.uk
The global impact of the environment on human livelihoods is creating a new kind of casualty: environmental refugees. Rising sea levels, increasing desertification, flooding, and more frequent natural disasters like cyclone have become a major cause of population displacement in many parts of the world. The number of refugees worldwide grew from 9.9 million in 2007 to 11.4 million in 2008, according to a report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which identified climate change as one of the leading causes of the global rise in refugees, along with conflict and escalating food prices. According to the International Red Cross, climate change disasters are now a bigger cause of population displacement than war and persecution. According to a report published by the United Nations University, there are now about 19.2 million people officially recognised as "persons of concern," people who are likely to be displaced because of environmental disasters. This figure is predicted to grow to about 50 million by the end of the year 2010.
The cyclone 'Aila' of May 25 has left a trail of devastations along the coastal districts of Bangladesh. Although it was forecast that there would be minimum damage on account of the impact of the cyclone, but in reality the damage caused to the lives and properties was enormous. The entire coastal belt witnessed a human tragedy after the cyclone. Tidal surge swept away hundreds and thousands of homesteads, cattle, and standing crops. After visiting the affected areas, high officials of the government and non-government organisations (NGOs) said that the damage on account of the cyclone 'Aila' is no less colossal than that of Sidr that had hit the coastal districts two years ago. According to official figures, the cyclone on May 25 damaged 1,742.53 kilometres of embankments, crops on about 3.23 lakh acres of land, 157 bridges and culverts and destroyed about 1.5 lakh livestock. The cyclone Aila flattened mud houses, uprooted trees and tidal surges hit the country's coastal areas, displacing about four hundred thousand people of five southern districts who were moved to cyclone shelters, schools and embankments of the Water Development Board. The cyclone-hit farmers have already suffered a huge loss in Aman production because of saline water-logging in a few upazilas, including the badly affected Koyra in Khulna, as the damaged embankments are yet to be repaired.
My personal experiences in the Koyra are that poor people and their communities are usually the most vulnerable to cyclone-induced disasters. Even without disasters, these poor people suffer the most due to inequitable access and distribution of resources, powerlessness due to oppressive relationships and constant disappointments, or failure of governmental and institutional mechanisms to respond to poverty. When these people are faced with natural disasters, they are the ones who have the least capacity to survive and who struggle the most to be rehabilitated.
Migration, whether permanent or temporary, has always been a traditional response or survival strategy of the people confronting the prospect, impact or aftermath of disasters. The complex nature of the cyclone Aila in Koyra upazila caused the uprooting of large numbers of people. The interplay of social and economic factors in the environment (such as shrimp aquaculture), the vulnerability of the people as well as the environment in the face of the destruction of the coastal embankments and waterlogging of the vast area aggravated the problem. Virtually the entire population of the upazila has been displaced, a large proportion (basically poor) of it perhaps permanently. Most local displacement by cyclone Aila tends to be temporary, but may become permanent, particularly if this disaster permanently alters or destroys the local economic base. The government decision for rehabilitation and providing food and employment during the winter after water recedes and embankments reconstructed will be the key issues. Many of the emerging cyclone trends and characteristics, failure to reconstruct the embankments and local politics will very likely increase the number and scale of forced migrations in the relatively near future. The combination of increasing population, increasing poverty and destruction of shrimp aquaculture-led local economy will increase the probability of forced migration. The most visible impact on the children in this cyclone disaster is the increased ratio of dropout from schools. Schools were inundated by the tidal surges and used as shelters for affected people. They are closed down temporarily for three months. The children, who have no opportunity to attend schools, support their parents by taking charge of fishing, collecting relief, or migrate to cities looking for casual employment. Many children from the very poor families, whose parents are displaced or without work, are sent to beg. However, many well-off families migrated for providing education to the children as the educational infrastructures have been destroyed and there is no sign of early recovery.
It is also realised that longer-term support is required to rebuild the lives of the people who had suffered during the cyclone and also to stop this migration. The cyclone created circumstances that changed the whole shape of the livelihoods framework of the poor. The change increased their vulnerability in the short-term and only the rehabilitation process could change the situation for the bertter. Good baseline vulnerability and capacity data prior to a disaster is a major component of a successful relief and rehabilitation response. However, vulnerability affects different people in different ways. It is possible to map these different vulnerabilities and to prepare for hazards that affect them. For this local sub/district administration and NGOs should have prepared good baseline survey reports, identifying vulnerabilities and livelihoods assets of the poor, distressed and marginal people. The situation highlighted by the survey and the increased information about the poor will result in better relief and rehabilitation work. Cyclone-led disasters affect different people in different ways. The most prepared, enabled and empowered people are able to avoid, cope with, or adapt to these changes better. The poor, however, are often unaware of the potential danger or are unwilling or unable to respond to the crisis. They are often the ones who are hit the hardest during the disaster, are least able to make use of the support services that arrive and have the least resilience to the hostile situation they find themselves in. This is also true for Aila-hit people in Koyra upazila where 0.3m people are faced a terrible monsoon weather with completely inadequate shelter. Having suffered from the cyclone once, they also suffered from inundation caused by high tide and inadequate shelters.
Cyclone Aila displacees experience uprooting and relocation and must cope with the consequent stresses and they need to adapt to new or radically changed environments. They have become environmental refugee as they have been displaced from their original homesteads for the last five months. To the degree that disasters force people to relocate themselves, either temporarily or permanently, disaster victims have been treated as a subset of the category of environmental refugees, a term that has recently generated a considerable amount of debate. Many may experience privation, loss of homes, jobs, and even the breakup of families (particularly women and children) and communities. The Water Development Board should immediately rebuild the coastal embankment. Otherwise, large-scale migration will occur. Local political leaders, irrespective of party affiliation, should be united to reconstruct the damaged embankments. Checking corruption in this rebuilding process is a great challenge for the local government. The government and NGOs must mobilise social and cultural resources in their efforts to reestablish viable social groups and communities and to restore adequate levels of material life. The government and NGOs should start microcredit immediately for creating opportunities of earning from different sources.
The effects of global climate changes, including increased risks of flooding, cyclones, tidal surges, storms, deforestation, desertification, soil erosion, and sea level rise increase the probability of disasters. This, in turn, will cause and permanent forced migration. In this context, the catastrophic losses from Aila highlight the urgent need of developing the conceptual, strategic and material tools to confront the increasing challenges of natural hazards.
The writer is doing PhD on Livelihood and Environment theme under the Charles Darwin University, Australia and member of 20th BCS Administrative Cadre. He can be contracted at abdullah6677@yahoo.co.uk