Migrations of population as a consequence of ecological and environmental security violation

Abstract

Taking into account the fact that the concept of human security has got to play an important role in the concept of the development of safe society, in terms of preventive action, i.e. anticipations that have considerably affected the position of the man as an individual in contemporary social relations, it should be noted that ecological security as a dimension of human security plays a very important role in this process. In the contemporary world, where globalization and the achieved level of technological progress are synonyms for economic development of a society, a question has been ever more often raised of pollution, environmental degradation, global warming and other forms of ecological security violations affecting the human security. The process of globalization clearly has a strong positive basis of socio-economic development, but to minimize adverse impact on the environment, especially of the poor countries and the developing countries, it is necessary to establish a balance between the benefits and consequences. The ecological security of the population is often affected by the irrational exploitation of natural resources and capacities within a state, which then leads to landslides, floods, and other disruptions of the security of the population. Due to destruction of homes, farmland erosion and negative changes in the natural environment, this process subsequently leads to permanent or temporary migrations of population, usually within the country. In the international literature, these persons have been increasingly referred to as “environmental refugees”. Differences in cultures, customs, and ethnicity of local population and the newcomers often lead to various types of conflicts that in some countries of the world tend to turn into very serious armed conflicts. In terms of ecological security, negative consequences are changes in the quality of air and soil, as well as the condition of biodiversity in the area affected by an environmental disaster. The paper analyzes the impact of May 2014 floods in Serbia on the migration of population and the overall condition of ecological security in the Republic of Serbia, as well as preventive measures at the national level, which need to be taken in order to prevent, or at least decrease, these and similar occurrences in the future.