Superior Settlement for Climate Displaced People of Bangladesh: Approach for Durable Solutions

Abstract

Climate change is amongst the most dreaded problems in the new millennium and arguably the greatest governance challenge the world has ever faced. Bangladesh is one of the most climate vulnerable countries on Earth and is set to become even more so as a result of climate change. Bangladesh suffers from regular natural hazards, including floods, tropical cyclones, storm surges and droughts. These hazards are already leading to the loss and destruction of housing, land and property, the loss of livelihoods and widespread displacement across the country. The effects of climate change are expected to exacerbate many of these existing hazards, as well as create new drivers of displacement. Many of these hazards are expected to disproportionately affect the poorest and most vulnerable in Bangladesh, a country where more than 50 million people live in poverty. Among the 64 districts of Bangladesh, 26 coastal and mainland districts are already producing climate displaced people. But there is no comprehensive national policy in Bangladesh that specifically targets climate displacement. Resettlement for the displaced peoples should be a last resort in climate change adaptation, but the reality is that it is already occurring in some countries and this trend is likely to intensify. The climate-induced migrants are often discriminated and face different problems during or after the displacement. In many cases, the policies and institutional frameworks are not sufficient to protect the displaced people. The rehabilitation of displaced persons by government and non-government sectors are, to date, insignificant in terms of the total number of displaced persons. Importantly, livelihood problems remain after the rehabilitation of displaced persons. There should be a rights-based solution to this problem. There should be initiatives to generate sustainable employment opportunity for the rehabilitated climate displaced persons. Therefore, there is a need to review the relevant policies and institutional frameworks identifying the protection gaps and adopting new policies to protect the environmental migrants. To face the challenge of mass displacement (both internal and external) as a result of climate Change, Young Power in Social Action (YPSA) has been implementing Bangladesh Housing, Land and Property (HLP) rights initiative with the support of Displacement Solutions (DS) for better settlement of climate displaced Peoples since 2012. The main objective of this project is to identify rights-based solutions and actions that could be undertaken to resolve the displacement of these climate-affected communities as well as to ensure and safeguard their housing, land and property rights. YPSA has been conducted three research studies that would examine in detail the true picture of land availability in Bangladesh for climate displaced persons as well as the potential durability of future resettlement. In this paper, the authors review the vulnerability and population displacement issues, existing policies, and suggest necessary policy and institutional frameworks with regard to extreme climate-induced disasters in coastal Bangladesh.

Keywords: Housing, Land and Property Rights, Climate Displaced People, Displacement Solutions, Young Power in Social Action