Weekly The Generation, Year 1, Issue 13
November 28, 2023
The Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday called for international support for the countries which are worst-affected by climate displacements to prevent such situations from turning into a humanitarian crisis.
“Most climate displacements take place within national borders and across borders in some dire situations,” she said.
The prime minister said this in a video statement that was played at the high-level segment on “Climate Impact on Human Mobility: A Global Call for Solutions” during the 114th Session of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Council held virtually.
She said it is estimated that climate change could displace 216 million people by 2050. Among these, 40 million alone would be in South Asia. In Bangladesh, 20 per cent of its population lives along the coastal belt.
“Sea-level rise, salinity intrusion, frequent floods, and severe cyclones make them vulnerable to forced displacement. Such displacements are happening at a faster pace than we think,” she warned.
She said that those displaced or trapped due to climate change need to have access to basic services, social protection, and livelihood options.
Bangladesh, she said, bears the burden of hosting 1.2 million forcibly displaced Rohingyas from Myanmar in its coastal district of Cox’s Bazar.
In Bangladesh, she said that the government has started taking special initiatives for climate migrants within its modest resources.
