Environmental Migration Research Articles

Comparative Study of Environmental Migration Issues in Bangladesh and Singapore

As the global climate crisis increasingly exacerbates, many countries are faced with more frequent natural disasters and the acceleration of slow on-set environmental degradation. In such context, environmental migration, comes into the international communitys view. Though not a new phenomenon, environmental migration fails to fit in the current migration framework due to its multidisciplinary nature, as a result, therere no explicit legal documents and mechanism to protect environmental migrants. In response to the inaction, this article investigates the key factors of environmental migration and possible pathways through the comparative study of Bangladesh and Singapore. In the first part, the impact of climate change on both states are examined and compared. In the next part, the difficulties in defining and tackling environmental migration issues are proposed, followed by the overview of current legal pathways of Bangladesh, Singapore and international law. In the third part, principles concerning environmental migrants human rights protection are discussed, and viable policy options are based on those principles and previous review of Bangladesh and Singapores situation, reflecting on how the two states could act as examples to inspire the international community.

The Difficulties to Define the Climate Refugees and Proposed Suggestions

The problems caused by climate change has drawn more attention form international society. One of reasons is that millions of people are severely influenced and facing the problems of displaced owing to the disasters caused by climate change and the secondary damage, and the number keeps rising. This climate refugees problem is getting serious has not been solved effectively. Thus, it has become more urgent for both international organizations and countries to take actions. The first significant step is to find out the main reasons. However, there are multiple factors caused the current situation of climate refugees, not only environmental reasons but also political reasons. One of reasons should be noted specifically. Due to the vagueness and uncertainty of the definition of climate refugees, the legal framework and practice about protection of climate refugees has been seriously influenced. Nevertheless, there are a sum of difficulties to make a universally admitted definition of climate refugees.

Public attitudes about integration and citizenship for refugees: Evidence from Turkey

AbstractThis study examines attitudes about integration and support for citizenship in the context of the Syrian refugee crisis in Turkey based on 85 interviews in four provinces. Consistent with past research, respondents reported multiple threat perceptions around refugees, with security and cultural threats predominating. Those who perceived refugees as threatening in three or more ways generally believed in fewer prospects for integration and were unlikely to support citizenship. However, positive views were present among those who reported one or even two types of threats, indicating there are possibilities for developing inclusionary attitudes even in the presence of threat perceptions. Our research also identifies two counterintuitive reasons some individuals support citizenship for refugees: to reduce security threats and remedy perceived favoritism in social support policies. These findings shed light on the complex bases of attitudes around migration and have important implications for designing refugee settlement policies and efforts to support integration.Related ArticlesDuman, Yoav H. 2014. “Reducing the Fog? Immigrant Regularization and the State.” Politics & Policy 42(2): 187–220. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/polp.12065/abstract.Ibrahim, Yasmin, and Anita Howarth. 2018. “Review of Humanitarian Refuge in the United Kingdom: Sanctuary, Asylum, and the Refugee Crisis.” Politics & Policy 46(3): 348–91. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12254.Ravi, Chaitanya. 2021. “The 1971 Bangladesh War and Policy Lessons for Climate Refugee Management in South Asia.” Politics & Policy 49(1): 248–74. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12392.

Migration health ethics in Southeast Asia: a scoping review

Background: Asia hosts the second-largest international migrant population in the world. In Southeast Asia (SEA), key types of migration are labour migration, forced migration, and environmental migration. This scoping review seeks to identify key themes and gaps in current research on the ethics of healthcare for mobile and marginalised populations in SEA, and the ethics of research involving these populations. Methods: We performed a scoping review using three broad concepts: population (stateless population, migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced people), issues (healthcare and ethics), and context (11 countries in SEA). Three databases (PubMed, CINAHL, and Web of Science) were searched from 2000 until May 2023 over a period of four months (February 2023 to May 2023). Other relevant publications were identified through citation searches, and six bioethics journals were hand searched. All searches were conducted in English, and relevant publications were screened against the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data were subsequently imported into NVivo 14, and thematic analysis was conducted. Results: We identified 18 papers with substantial bioethical analysis. Ethical concepts that guide the analysis were ‘capability, agency, dignity’, ‘vulnerability’, ‘precarity, complicity, and structural violence’ (n=7). Ethical issues were discussed from the perspective of research ethics (n=9), clinical ethics (n=1) and public health ethics (n=1). All publications are from researchers based in Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia. Research gaps identified include the need for more research involving migrant children, research from migrant-sending countries, studies on quality of migrant healthcare, participatory health research, and research with internal migrants. Conclusions: More empirical research is necessary to better understand the ethical issues that exist in the domains of research, clinical care, and public health. Critical examination of the interplay between migration, health and ethics with consideration of the diverse factors and contexts involved is crucial for the advancement of migration health ethics in SEA.

Introduction: Environmental (im)mobilities: Improving the evidence base for effective policy making

AbstractDespite the converging agreement on the linkages between climate and broader environmental change and human (im)mobilities, evidence gaps persist that often relate to data challenges. It remains necessary to improve knowledge and data to better map, understand, project, and address environmental migration, displacement, planned relocation, and immobilities. Analyses of continuing data gaps and strategies for innovative data use are key to rise to the challenge. This Special Section of International Migration highlights these gaps and presents innovative strategies to address them.

Yesterday, today, tomorrow; environmental refugees

Migrations, which are as old as the history of mankind, have taken place for many reasons and have increased with the addition of new ones. Although wars and economic concerns are among the main causes, environmental problems have been one of the reasons that should be accepted in today's world. Environmental problems that threaten the lives of all living beings, especially human beings, pose numerous risks. Moreover, these risks have reached unlimited and global dimensions. One of these risks is the forced migration of people due to various environmental problems, especially climate change. Those who have experienced this migration are defined as "environmental refugees", and they occupy an important place in recent literature. While many of the problems associated with the millions of migrants are still unresolved today, the fact that environmental refugees are being added with increasing momentum clearly demonstrates the importance of including this issue in research agendas. It is also a fact that migration poses serious problems not only for the migrants who are its subjects, but also for the countries of emigration. The importance of the subject from both sides and the fact that it is pregnant with many problems, which can be seen with the domino effect, made it necessary to study the subject in detail. Based on these considerations, in the study; the history of environmental refugees, its causes, problems, environmental refugees mobility in recent years, possible future scenarios, socio-social-economic dimensions are discussed, evaluation and solutions are given.

DAMPAK PERUBAHAN IKLIM TERHADAP MIGRASI LINGKUNGAN DAN KEAMANAN MANUSIA DI BANGLADESH

The research explains the impact of climate change which resulted in environmental migration from Bangladesh to India. This study aims to analyze the impact of climate change on environmental migration from Bangladesh to India. The method used is a qualitative method with data collection through literature studies with the concept of human security by UNDP and the theory of environmental migration by Graeme Hugo. The results of this study indicate that the impact of climate change which is massively occurring in Bangladesh raises "push" and "pull" factors which result in environmental migration from Bangladesh to India. However, there are obstacles in the form of the entry of Bangladeshi people into India illegally and the implementation of policies that have limited information. This research can be used as a reference for further research.

Dust Bowl Migrants: Environmental Refugees and Economic Adaptation

The 1930s American Dust Bowl created archetypal “Dust Bowl migrants,” refugees from environmental collapse. I examine this archetype, comparing migration from more-eroded and less-eroded counties to distinguish Dust Bowl migrants from other migrants. Dust Bowl migrants were “negatively selected,” in years of education, compared to other migrants who were “positively selected.” Dust Bowl migrants had lower incomes than natives in their destinations, which is reflected in popular impressions. I estimate strikingly modest impacts of the Dust Bowl on average wage incomes in 1939, however, which contrasts with the Dust Bowl’s large and enduring impacts on agricultural land.

Social capital and community integration in post-disaster relocation settlements after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami in Indonesia

The permanent relocation of persons from areas threatened by environmental stress is widely seen within the international humanitarian sector as problematic due to negative social and economic impacts. However, relocation is increasingly seen as a likely, if unfortunate, response to climate change as rising sea-levels, changing ecological conditions, and increasingly intense disasters create powerful push factors. The more dramatic examples of environmental migration focus on long-distance movements, including crossing national borders, which raise issues about the importance of social capital for migrants trying to build community cohesion and integrate into different cultural contexts. However, it is likely that most relocation because of environment stress will occur at sub-national to very local geographic scales, similar to what happens after large-scale disasters, meaning that persons might be resettled within familiar cultural, linguistic, and religious contexts. In this paper we use qualitative data collected in 12 resettlement complexes built in Aceh, Indonesia for persons displaced by the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami to analyze the importance of social capital for building cohesion within resettlement complexes and between resettlement complexes and host communities. We find that even though tsunami-affected persons were generally relocated less than 20 km from their pre-tsunami homes, there were clear social distinctions between resettled persons and host communities, which had practical impacts on integration, access to resources, and participation within local governance structures. We found shared cultural and religious traditions and social practices served as important sources of bonding capital within resettlement complexes. However, the same attributes were less effective as bridging capital between resettlement complexes and their host communities. These findings show that governments and NGOs need to be cautious about underestimating the negative social disruptions caused by short-distance relocation and the importance of bonding social capital for fostering stable and sustainable resettlement communities.

Climate-Induced Migration a New Normal? A Systematic Research Analysis of the Climate-induced Migration Crisis in Bangladesh

Today, the contemporary world is witnessing a growing number of individuals facing displacement due to the escalating frequency and intensity of extreme climate events. Devastating disasters such as floods, tornadoes, typhoons, storms, tsunamis, heatwaves, and droughts are causing the displacement of thousands, if not millions, of people globally. As temperatures continue to rise, these extreme events are expected to worsen, leading to rising sea levels, increased droughts, and further displacement of vulnerable populations especially in developing countries. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) highlights a concerning trend, revealing a steady increase in the number of climate refugees forced to leave their homes since 2008. The estimated figure of 318 million people worldwide displaced due to climate change between 2008 and 2021 underscores the urgency of addressing this issue. Regrettably, efforts to address this significant and persistent challenge have been largely limited in both national and international spheres. Climate migrants have often been inadequately protected and their plight insufficiently acknowledged. Additionally, a disconcerting absence of a clear legal classification exists for climate migrants, with the 1951 Refugee Convention failing to encompass their specific circumstances. This paper presents a comprehensive exploration of the climate-induced refugee crisis, with a particular focus on Bangladesh as a case study. By shedding light on the effects of climate change on individuals and society at large, the aim is to draw global attention to the increasingly unacknowledged challenge of climate refugees. Employing a blend of community risk assessment tools, this study adopts an engaged scholarship research paradigm to investigate awareness, vulnerability, adaptation, and resilience-building concerning climate change impacts. The findings of this research underscore the persistence and exacerbation of the climate refugee crisis. Consequently, the paper asserts that it is incumbent upon governments and policymakers worldwide to urgently develop effective policy mechanisms that ensure the protection of global citizens affected by climate change and the recognition of climate refugee status within the UN system. Such mechanisms should facilitate the accommodation and provision of necessary care for climate refugees both within their home countries and abroad. Addressing this pressing issue requires immediate attention and concerted international efforts to safeguard the rights and well-being of those affected by climate-induced displacement.

Education for what? The politics of education for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

AbstractThe massive influx of Rohingyas has become one of the world's worst humanitarian and human rights crises. The Bangladesh government does not have any domestic or international regulations to set up an administrative process to address the issue of Rohingya refugees. Recently, Bangladesh and Myanmar initiated the repatriation of around 3000 Rohingyas. Yet, the repatriation process has not been successful as none of the Rohingya agreed to return to Myanmar without citizenship rights and security. Against this backdrop, this study explores whether education can act as a solution to integrate Rohingya refugees into mainstream society in Bangladesh. Applying purposive sampling, primary data was collected through semi‐structured interviews, key informant interviews, and telephone interviews. Data analysis was performed through conversation analysis. The findings reveal that the integration of Rohingya refugees through education is a far‐reaching dream as refugee management and education policies do not permit the integration of Rohingya refugees into mainstream society in Bangladesh. Rohingya refugees have demanded education as their right to develop their self‐respect and dignity. In contrast, the Bangladesh government viewed education as a relief program rather than development and integration. This article supports the claim of academics that the Bangladeshi government should provide education to Rohingya refugee children from a development perspective to protect and ensure their self‐respect and dignity.Related ArticlesByrne, Jennifer. 2016. “Contextual Identity among Liberian Refugees in Ghana: Identity Salience in a Protracted Refugee Situation.” Politics & Policy 44(4): 751–82. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12169.Harel‐Shalev, Ayelet. 2009. “Lingual and Educational Policy toward ‘Homeland Minorities’ in Deeply Divided Societies: India and Israel as Case Studies.” Politics & Policy 37(5): 951–70. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2009.00206.x/abstract.Ravi, Chaitanya. 2021. “The 1971 Bangladesh War and Policy Lessons for Climate Refugee Management in South Asia.” Politics & Policy 49(1): 248–74. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12392.

Bringing migrants' perspectives in ‘migration as an adaptation strategy’ discourses

AbstractOver the last few years, migration is increasingly being framed as an adaptation strategy to deal with climate change, to move away from apocalyptic representations of migration in debates on climate change. While acknowledging the merit of this discourse, this commentary calls for more attention to include migrants' perspectives in debates on environmental migration and reflecting on how such discourses work out in practice. As most studies have focused on regions of origin being impacted adversely by climate change, and the ability/willingness to migrate, the perspectives of migrants themselves and how they feel about their migration and integration, whether internally or internationally, facing slow‐onset or sudden climate impacts, have not been discussed thoroughly. This point of view is needed to grasp the preconditions of success for such discourses, as migrants occupy vulnerable positions in immigrant societies, but are pressured to have a ‘double engagement’ towards both the region of origin and destination.

Waters that Divide: Climate Refugees and Sea Barriers

Waters that Divide: Climate Refugees and Sea Barriers

Earth System at Risk: Challenging Environmental (In)Justice

Earth System at Risk: Challenging Environmental (In)Justice

Environmental Migration

طوال تاريخ البشرية كانت اله جرة والبيئة مرتبطتن دائمًا، ولكن في العصر الحديث من المحتمل أن تؤدي تأثيرات الأزمات البيئية والمنَُاخِيَّة، الناجمة عن أنشطة الإنسان، إلى تغيير أنماط الاستيطان البشري عى نطاق واسع، وفي هذا السياق، يُقَدِّم أطلس اله جرة البيئية أدلةً عى أن الت غ ات البيئية والكوارث ر الطبيعية أَدَّت دورًا في كيفية توزيع السكان عى كوكب الأرض عى مدار التاريخ ) .)Ionesco, D, 2016 ونتيجة تأ ث ات البيئة والمنُاخ عى اله جرة ظهر في الآونة الأ خ ة اهتمامٌ كب بمفهوم اله جرة البيئية ر ر ر Environmental Migration ، وعى مدار العقد الماضي، تزايد هذا الاهتمام في المناقشات السياسية والقانونية، وفي البحوث التجريبية. ولذلك تَوَسَّعَت الأبحاثُ حول التفاعلات ب ن الهجرة والبيئة ي وتَغَ المنُاخ بشكل كب عى مدى العقود الماضية. ومع ذلك، ر ر فإن الأدبيات والنتائج التجريبية مشتتة ولا يزال الو صول إليها قلي للجمهور. وفي الوقت نفسه، أصبح واضعو السياسات ا ووسائل الإع م والمجتمع المدني عى دراية متزايدة بأهمية ا هذا المفهوم الناشئ، ويتزايد الطلب عى البيانات والخرائط والحقائق الملموسة لفهم الم شاكل والقضايا الرئيسة المتعلقة باله جرة المرتبطة بتغ البيئة والمنُاخ. ر وبشكل عام، يُعَرِّ مفهومُ اله جرة البيئية عن أن التغ المنُاخي والتدهور البيئي والكوارث الناجمة ر عن المخاطر الطبيعية، تعمل عى إعادة تشكيل أنماط وتيارات اله جرة المعاصرة في جميع أنحاء العالم، بشكل كب وبطرق متنوعة؛ حيث ينتقل بعض الناس كَرَدِّ فعلٍ لأحداث مفاجئة، مثل: الفيضانات ر والجفاف والظواهر الجوية المتطرفة، التي أصبحت أكر توا ترًا وشدة وضررًا نتيجة تغ المنُاخ وتدهور ر البيئة، كما تؤثر الأحداث الطبيعية بطيئة الظهور مثل: التصحر وتآكل السواحل وارتفاع مستوى سطح البحر، وغيرها عى قرارات اله جرة بشكل مباشر وغ مباشر )المنظمة الدولية لله جرة، 2021 (.

Toward the development of a conceptual framework for the complex interaction between environmental changes and rural-urban migration

Environmental changes can result in dramatic increases in human migration as households become unable to adapt to such changes. Addressing environmental migration is a complex puzzle that can become a wicked problem. Despite the growing literature on the nexus between environmental change and migration, the inextricable link between nature and society has made it difficult to establish causal relations between the two. To examine the relationship between environmental change and migration, it is necessary to develop a conceptual model that includes environmental changes as potential causes of rural-urban migration (RUM). Such a model should be built on an enhanced understanding of the different factors that stimulate environmentally induced RUM. This paper proposes such a model, focusing on loss of agricultural land, loss of agricultural productivity and the economic repercussions of these losses. The model is based on the model of Perch-Nielsen et al. but extends this model by incorporating additional factors. In our model, the three leading causes of RUM are climate change, human maladaptive activities, and hydro-climatic disasters (the push factors). In addition, there may be pull factors in the cities. RUM may be counteracted or reduced by governmental policy and individuals' characteristics. The model was applied to Iran. The results show that the model can help to bridge the knowledge gap regarding environmentally induced RUM and may inform policymaking on RUM and related issues, such as environmental management and adaptation to climate change.

Dynamic retention of thallium(I) on humic acid: Novel insights into the heterogeneous complexation ability and responsiveness

Widely distributed soil humic acid (HA) would significantly affect the environmental migration behavior of Tl(I), but a quantitative and mechanistic understanding of the dynamic Tl(I) retention process on HA is limited. A unified kinetic model was established by coupling the humic ion-binding model with a stirred-flow kinetic model, which quantified the complexation constants and responsiveness coefficients during dynamic Tl(I)-HA complexation. Furthermore, the heterogeneous complexation mechanism of HA and Tl(I) was revealed by batch adsorption experiments, stirred-flow migration experiments, and 2D-FTIR-COS analysis. An increase in pH significantly improved the responsiveness of HA organic binding sites, promoting Tl(I) dynamic retention. Monodentate carboxyl groups induced rapid Tl(I) complexation (kd = 1.9 min−1) in strongly acidic environments. Under weakly acidic conditions, Tl(I) retention on HA was mainly attributed to the synergistic complexation effect of carboxyl and amide groups. Among the groups, multidentate carboxyl-phenolic hydroxyl sites could achieve sustained Tl(I) retention due to their stable complexing properties (logK = 4.48∼7.46) and slow response (kd = 1.1 × 10−3 min−1). These findings are crucial for a comprehensive understanding of the environmental interactions of Tl(I) with humic substances in swamp environments.

Climate change, migration, and internally displaced populations in the Indian Ocean Region – evidence from South Asia and East Africa

ABSTRACT The field of migration studies is increasingly widening its scope and research by addressing the complex and converging interactions between migration, internal displacement, livelihoods, and poverty. Within this space, internal migration and displacement are assuming recognition as more contextual and layered processes for vulnerable populations in the global south. A growing body of evidence indicates that regions in East and Southeast Africa and South Asia continue to witness a surge in internal and intra-regional movements of people who are termed as climate or environmental refugees. Resultantly, they are likely to move, are on the move, as also those who are unable to move and are left behind, and those who stay. The paper examines the close and often blurring linkages between environmental migrants, (climate) refugees, aspirational and economic migrants. Engaging with the question of why people move, we observe that the ‘climate-migration’ nexus is intricate and far from a facile, reductionist narrative, as is the ‘migration as adaptation and agency’ nexus –issues that are intertwined when perceiving climate migration in Africa and Asia.

Governing “decadent cities”: The far-right as agents of climate counterinsurgency

Ecological crisis has given rise to a range of discussions over “climate fascism,” “green nationalism,” “fossil fascism,” and “eco-fascism.” Several authors have advanced the thesis that climate adaptation will be shaped by an increase in authoritarian politics or an uptick in organized violence (e.g. at the borders of nation-states) as states deploy counterinsurgency tactics against climate refugees and environmental activists. My article inverts this proposition by arguing that far right politics emerges as a contingent possibility in the mode of counterinsurgency governance. I propose the framework of “relations of counterinsurgency” as a means of understanding how counterinsurgency manages crises of urban governability by remaking the spaces of uneven urbanization. I then argue that to theorize contemporary far right climate politics, we should ask what the term eco-fascism does rather than what it is. My argument is that, as climate change makes increasing claims upon political institutions, relations of counterinsurgency allow far right actors to constitute their agency and subjectivity.

PROBLEMATYKA MIGRANTÓW KLIMATYCZNYCH

The paper concerns the issue of climate migrants, the causes of this phenomenon, and postulates in this respect. It should be indicated that currently there are no binding legislative acts that would regulate the legal status of a climate migrant. The definition of the term ‘refugee’ in the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees of 28 July 1951 covers only those who are forced to change their place of residence for fear of persecution. However, the term ‘environmental refugee’, or ‘climate refugee’, has been used in the literature and in international legal documents, e.g. in the report for the United Nations Development Programme of 1985. Due to climate change and other environmental factors, the problem of environmental migrants has become a reality. Small island states, such as Tuvalu, the Maldives, and Kiribati, are among the most vulnerable to climate change, including rising sea levels and risk of flooding. Therefore, appropriate legal measures should be taken to fill the legislative gap and to provide appropriate legal protection to persons who seek asylum in other states due to climate threats.