Climate Change Tempted Disaster Instigated Human Migration in the Coastal Districts of Bangladesh

Abstract

Climate change is one of the world's major issues and its impact particularly on migration is attracting increased attention for policymakers and experts. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of climate change on human migration and to highlight the number of migrants in Bangladesh's coastal areas. The research was carried out in the Barishal division's Barguna, Barishal, Bhola, Jhalokati, Patuakhali, Pirojpur, and Khulna division's Khulna, Bagerhat, and Satkhira districts using focus group discussion (FGD), key informant’s interview (KII) and secondary data sources. The research findings are based on both primary data and secondary data gathered from various sources, which were conducted in nine coastal districts of Bangladesh from mid-February to mid-March 2020. This paper contains mapping by analyzing secondary information using ArcGIS 10 software of Geographic Information System technology. The study revealed the scenario of human migration and displacement in nine southwest districts due to different natural calamities like cyclones, riverbank erosion, floods, storm surges, and salinity intrusion. From household survey it was found that coastal erosion influenced about 74.73% people and floods forced only 3.51% of people to migrate. From 2014 to 2020, the highest and lowest disaster induced migrants have been found in 2017 and 2020. In addition, from 2014 to 2020, maximum and minimum migrants were in Barishal, and Jhalokati, separately in a row. In 2020, maximal and minimal number of migrants have been noted in Patuakhali and Satkhira with 38715 and 1900 migrants, respectively with the maximum disaster-induced migration in Barishal division. This research would be a great source of information for future investigations concerning human migration and displacement across the coastal districts of Bangladesh.