From conflict to climate: refugees to IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) in the Bay of Bengal

ABSTRACT

The Rohingya refugees rehabilitated in Bangladesh present a unique case bearing human and environmental security cross complications. Forced to flee from Myanmar due to military atrocities and ethnic violence, they took refuge in neighboring Bangladesh from 2017 onwards. These refugees are standing at the crossroads of converting from Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMNs) to potential climate refugees in the near future due to their rehabilitation in the environmentally sensitive island of Bhasan Char, which is regularly ravaged by cyclones, sea level rise and other climate challenges. This paper argues that Bangladesh is a case study of paradoxical human settlement. On the one hand, the host country is giving refuge to conflict victims while, at the same time, it is triggering climate-induced displacement within their own country. From conflict-ridden areas to climate-sensitive zones, such rehabilitation of refugees invites deeper crises and calls for immediate policy attention.

KEYWORDS:

• Conflict
• climate
• internal displacement
• human security

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 UNHCR website, http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646c125.html.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Anindita Roy Saha

Anindita Roy Saha is a Professor at the Department of Economics at Indraprastha College for Women and a visiting faculty at the Department of Environmental Studies, University of Delhi. She holds a PhD degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Her area of specialization includes Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Resource Economics. She has supervised several research dissertations, published her work in reputed international and national journals and has recently published a book titled ‘Sustainable Development Insights from India. India Studies in Business and Economics’, 2021, (eds.) Dasgupta, P., Saha A. R. and Singhal R., Springer, Singapore. She is a life member of the Indian Economic Association and the Indian Society for Ecological Economics.

Shubhra Seth

Shubhra Seth is an Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science at Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi, India. Her area of academic interest includes Forced Migration due to Conflict and Climate, Human Rights and Disability Studies. Her primary research area is conflict-induced internal displacement in South Asia, which she formalised in her PhD from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. She endeavours to empower and enable the displaced and the differently abled through the tool of education and continues to work for the same. Her recent publication is 'Victims to Vanguards-Displaced Yet Determined' in Gender, Identity and Migration in India, 2022, (eds.) Nasreen Chowdhory and Paula Banerjee. Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, Springer Nature-Singapore.