Environmental Migration: From Local’s Perspective
Prabin K. Prajapati
Introduction
Climate change has been widely debated issue in the following years. Globally changing climate and its outcomes as environmental hazards have affected to locally sustained livelihoods is the main discussion topic in this paper. To a large extent, the paper will discuss degraded environment that adds a new dimension of the migration in general, and impacts of them in the local livelihoods in the trans-Himalaya zones in particular. This paper will raise the issues of changing climate patterns since global environment is degrading which has consequently brought hardship to the locals in the trans-Himalaya periphery. I would relate to this problem as the push factor of mobility and internal and external migrations. To understand the migrants and Internally Displaced People (IDP), I have tried to review the paradigms of migrations from historical, institutional and structural patterns of voluntary and involuntary perspectives. Regarding the newly emerged forced migration by environmental reasons, I would like to discuss various social, economic and environmental aspects of people living in Trans Himalaya regions. While simplifying the context, I would relate the points with international development and developmental issues. At first, the locals of Trans Himalaya region now experience an incredibly adverse climate, which has consequently forced them to migrate from their homelands.
Changing climate and changing livelihood patterns in Trans-Himalaya zone:
Excessive use of fossil fuel, the global environment is warming year after year. In globally degrading environmental phenomena, Trans Himalaya region is not also free of impact caused by contaminated biosphere. Trans Himalaya region is low fertile land and known as hardship to livelihoods. In contaminated biosphere and climate change, these locals feel irreversible damage to soils, raining patterns and temperatures which have brought tremendously insecure livelihoods along with addition of threats from natural disasters. The upper ecological zone, the mountain region is especially the habitat for Sherpa, and other Mongolian tribes of Nepal. They have been fighting for many generations back on sustainable livelihood despite extreme cold in winter and non fertile land for cultivation. Except a few natural advantages such as livestock and staple food potatoes and millet there is nominal ultimate sustainable livelihoods. From the infrastructural development perspective, the people from high altitude zones are deprived of basic services such as roads, communication and stable markets. The upper part of Himalaya has abundant green pastors which supports to sustainable livestock. Gradual climatic change in this particular ecological zone has heavily impacted not only Sherpa ethnic community but all the settlements nearby the riverbeds to a vulnerability of unpredictable natural disasters.
Dimension of Forced Migration: a review
Migration has always been discussed with cost benefit and population growth and its mobility perspective. M. Philip (2004:443) comments on conventional perspective of migration for instance people migrated from one place to another in response to famine, war and displacement in traditional economies. But, at present global warming and climate change has contributed to the new migration pattern. Migration happens permanently, semi-permanently and temporarily according to the contexts. On the scale and scope, migration carries new dimensions. From the economic lens, healthy migration contributes to form social and human capital, boost up economies and bring cultural diversity. Most of the migration incidences seem to be motivated by economic purpose i.e. in search of better well off perspective. Despite this pull factor, recent trends show that migration incidences are growing in numbers not by pulling or pushing such as economic or social factors but environmental factor. Climate change and its inverse impact on livelihood particularly in agriculture sector have forced people to find either an alternative livelihood or to migrate. In fact, these migrations are motivated to secure minimum maintenance of livelihoods. Although the rich world has started to focus on different sustainable environmental protection strategies, the poor have not been relieved from threats of natural disasters. It has ultimately pushed the poor to migrate in the urban areas where they find more difficulties in adaptation however they feel more life security.
The topic with environmental migrations has to be highlighted in international development debate especially focusing the protection of local settlements in the tropical and ecological Trans Himalaya zones. The Himalaya is also the fresh water source and supplier of water in the dry fields to the lower parts of the country. The major problem relating to environmental change has immensely threatened locals in their livelihoods. For a sustainable development, climate change or deteriorating environment is a key issue to be addressed. Can we meet the economic growth at the cost of lives of poor and indigenous people? Of course not, the question is of equality, entitlement of self-dignity and of social justice. Meanwhile, industrialized countries are exceeding production irrespective to environmental degradation therefore; the present climate change is more or less man made problem. McGregor, D. (2002) maintains ‘the global climates are changing, due at least in part to human activity, is generally accepted by the scientific community, and the implications of this are potentially most important for the poorer of the World’s societies’. Similarly, Myers, N. (2001) stresses that states that there are people who can no longer gain a secure livelihood in their homelands because of drought, soil erosion, desertification, deforestation and other environmental problems, together with the associated problems of population pressure and profound poverty.
Gandhi, M. (2005:306) stressed his disgust on excessive use of machine. The problem that exists now is the result of materialistic consumption pattern. To meet the increasing consumption, developed countries instead of finding alternative energy, used excessively fossil fuel or nonrenewable energy. The consequence is that the global climate change has drastically hit the poor and the people who live particularly in the tropical landscapes. Many of rain fed fields are facing either by too hot, too dry and too wet problems. The shift of people from rural to urban areas has accelerated the number of many slum settlements, which virtually put more structural pressure to the state in supply of service along with mounting pollution.
Understanding Migration from Historical Perspective
Homo sapiens people moved from one place to another place in search of food. This migration hardly covered one or two kilometers in distance per year. Krench III, S. et.al (eds. 2004 p. 845-49) mentions the dynamics of migration in two ways: move oneself and acquiring the ability to move objects, including other organisms along with migrants. In the course of time, new inventions in transport immensely enabled humans to migrate covering long distances. These migration patterns finally were attributed with volume and speed. Initially, migration incidences happened concerning to better well of in terms of food and resources. Later, political and economic factors drove the migration patterns. Before the World Wars I and II, economic prosperity motivated colonization and human trafficking as labors and slaves. Now in the globalization era, the game of brain drain and brain gain determines all the migration policies.
Besides voluntary migrations natural disasters and environmental problems also contribute to the mobility of humans. Let’s take an example, after the post world war, international institutions such as IMF and World Bank implemented the policy to enable the third world to import service and goods from the developed countries and export their raw materials (Rahnema, & Bawtree. eds. p 266-77). To meet the demand of new technocratic consumption in the third world developed countries more focused on large-scale production and consumption. The pattern of production was based on new technologies where as consumption pattern controlled by the capitalist media and Westernization. For the faster economic gains through globalization process, international corporate companies focused on new places where labor market is cheap and production cost is low instead of giving less attention to environmental protection. Though it opened more job opportunity in the underdeveloped countries, it also led to deteriorated local environment. The places where the factories were established concerning a large production, people around the area inflicted by contaminated biosphere with extraction of minerals. With various pushing factors this new context also determined the migration pattern.
Excluding volunteer mobility in purpose to better well of, involuntary migrations are of evidences to forced migrations in the form of refugees and asylum seekers or IDPs. With socio-political reasons people often move from cross country borders or in other words transnational boarders. In accordance to the definition of UNHCR these people are refugees. The formal criteria for the refugees are: well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion (Castle, S. and M.J. Miller, 2003 pp 103). On contrary to the 1951 United Nations Convention on the basis of socio-political reasons the term ‘refugee’ is now inadequate. According to UNHCR (1995:2000a) report, the global refugee population grew from 2.4 million in 1975 to 10.5 million in 1985 and 14.9 million in 1993. By 2000, the global refugee population had declined to 12.1 million including refugees, some internally displaced persons and some returnees. But there is no real account of environmental refugees.
Canada, US and Australia are those few destinations where migration policy fulfills the demands in of labor markets and migrants are well integrated. On the other hand, it is equally prosperous to supplying countries in terms of receiving remittance. It has boomed their economy i.e. Philippines and Indonesia but these countries lack human capital to achieve the development goals. In respect to human mobility to different places, perhaps there is no land where human beings have not migrated. Those who first migrated found new lands as an opportunity for exploitation of natural resources. Within this mission, colonialism flourished and the indigenous worlds were rapidly invaded. Sachs, W. (2005: pp290-98) argues that these invaders have created an invisible border of North and South. During the industrialization and modernization, Northern World excessively exploited the nature at the cost of depleting local biodiversity. Now locals are facing the misdeeds of industrial countries. It is experienced that for the last a few decades we have a new phenomenon of migration that completely differs from conventional definition of refugees and internally displaced persons. UNHCR hasn’t taken enough account to the environmental refugees. The experience also shows that changing global climate has accelerated migration phenomena due to the vulnerability of livelihood collapse and insecurity from natural disasters.
The Environmental Impact and Migrations:
Manniom, A.M. (1991:313) argues that ‘fossil fuels as resources of energy to large scale industrialization contributed to considerably deteriorating both the earth’s surface and its atmosphere. The most important aspects of this impact are acidification and the enhanced green house effect. Basically earth as a single home for all humanity, is not free of effects from environmental degradations in particular part with the rest of the other. It is sure, in the long term everywhere it could be experienced like climate change. This environmental impact must have been correlative causal in changing climate in the Himalayas where glacial lakes are expanding. The earlier theses on push and pull factors of migrations for better livelihood, environmental migration indicates secure life first and better livelihood is second. The case of livelihoods in Trans-Himalayas, people are well off because they have sustainable livelihood from agriculture, livestock and tourism. These people are moving from their homeland despite having adequate sources already. The issue is:
Scientific analysis has shown that annual temperature increase in the Trans-Himalaya is on average 0.09 degrees Celsius. The annual temperature increase throughout Nepal is 0.06 degrees Celsius. This high increase in temperature has resulted in melting of glaciers, formation of glacial lakes, which have resulted in glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF). Sixty-seven percent of glaciers are retreating in the Himalayas and climate change has been identified as the major factor.
(http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/where_we_work/asia_pacific/where/nepal/news/index.cfm?uNewsID=99260)
Increasing temperature and climate change and its impact to uncomfortable livelihoods is today’s global issue. The people in Himalaya experience incredible climate change with an adverse effect to agricultural lands, livestock and tourism. Himalaya ecological zones are going to be disserted since increasing threats of natural disasters and deteriorating environment for the general livelihoods. For sure, it will exacerbate the internal displacement incidences. Fearing of anytime glacial outburst and flood, their habitats are on peril. The other socio-cultural effect is the indigenous group who are well familiar of mountaineers will certainly lose their professional identity. Therefore, my argument is that global practice of maximum economic growth has ignored the environmental protections which has unnecessarily contributed to the potential natural disasters. Unless it is prevented, the rapid global production and depletion of biodiversity will push many settlements into mass destruction. At present, these locally experienced environmental hazards are the ignition to preliminary symptoms of disasters in the near future. It could neither be resolved temporarily nor with large humanitarian relief funds. It needs global commitment to protect the environment by maintaining natural cycle and finding a new energy source that doesn’t deplete and contaminate the atmosphere. According to New Economic Foundation, ‘the world is growing interdependency where environmental problems have no respect for border and nation states’. (http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/news_envirorefugees.aspx). In this respect, the global development agencies need to take measures of environmentally displaced people with a new policy. At least, they should be recognized by global agencies as environmental refugees.
Many scholars of migration think that migration happens basically for the economic purpose. Conventional idea says migration often takes place internationally or internally on the outcomes of political turmoil, war and ethnic conflicts. Now we have another reason of migration that is outcome of environmental degradations. The world has presently 200 million populations under the international migration process (http://www.gcim.org/attachements/gcim-complete-report-2005.pdf). It has not been confirmed how many of them have migrated to new destinations due to environmental reasons.
Social Justice to Environmental Migrants or IDPs:
Usually, those who flee from their homelands to other parts of the country or crossing international boarders find themselves isolated and alienated from the basic services. At the same time the host locality are not much cooperative to establish integration for these new movers. Most of the movers have to find a sanctuary nearby the places, which are already prone to disasters such as landslide slopes or riverbanks. The 1951 Geneva Convention expects equal treatment to the refugee or asylum seekers. As per agreement, the state has to facilitate them and treat them with high priorities. In case of not possible to rehabilitation or voluntary repatriation to their homeland, the state has to follow the directives of UNHCR respective to internal refugees or IDPs especially affected by natural or environmental degradation. They need to be integrated and adjusted to the structure with better well of opportunity. Though the directives are moral obligations, it is experienced that it has not been implemented on practical foundations.
Migration brings new demographic distribution of population in particular geographical areas meanwhile, the place which fell under the natural disasters and the people who fled from there are to be considered from their genuine contributions for the maintaining their sustainable livelihood since many generations. Minimizing the insecurity of natural disasters and environmental degradations, the humanitarian organization and development organization should focus on their capacity building and share their local experience for the sustainable participatory development. Instead of doing much effort to resettle them in their homelands, environmentally displaced persons are relocated or resettled in even worse places as slum areas. These measures are basically temporary based however; they create more problems to both host and movers. As long as these internally displaced persons stay in the slum areas, they would remain in vulnerable situations of natural disasters. (http://www.unescap.org/esid/psis/meetings/migration-aug2003/Nepal.pdf).
Globally, at least 250 million people endured effect to natural disaster, three times higher than 1990. The volume of environmentally affected IDPs is growing year after year. The state has less focused on establishing basic services such as health care, education and livelihood opportunities. It is therefore; more people who migrated to urban areas do not want to come back. (http://www0.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=11965&Cr=natural&Cr1=disaster). From the global perspective, the destination of migrations can get more benefits if their rigid immigration policies are softened. Migration can be a good tool for the development if new economic windows are open. Since environmental refugees and IDPs are victims of globally changing climate, they should also be inclusive to the development mainstream. In practice, environmental refugees/IDPs have been deprived of development.
The pattern of global climate changing has victimized to the locals of particular tropical lands. In the Trans-Himalaya region, especially, where, glacial lakes are being formed and growing to bigger volumes, more and more people have been threatened by glacial explosions. On the other hand, their livelihoods are becoming more difficult since uneven rains and extreme droughts. Finding no alternatives, they are forced to migrate. It has added a new dimension in the discourse of international refugee. In the grey line of conventional refugees and environmental refugees, it is a major difficulty to categorize type of migrants. Broadly saying, environmental refugee has to be studied from developmental discourse. Beside the study of refugees caused by natural disasters, it is also equally important to study on climate change at particular tropical lands such as settlements of Himalayas.
Development Strategies for Potential Migrants:
Food security is most important factor by which we can control forced migration. Agriculture is the main economic source for the people living in rural and tropical zones. But it hasn’t been given more priority. Sustainable development means to meet the present need without compromising the capacity of future generation. From the pro-poor advocacy, the present need of people living in high altitude is to secure their livelihood by securing the food along with avoiding threats of natural disasters. It has already been experienced that the staple crop that is cultivated in highland is losing the productivity due to not having favorable climate. It has in essence contributed to increase the number of poor. The more we attempt to reduce poverty by exceeding industrial production the more we push the future generation in peril. Today, what we feel in the remote settlements, people who were rather satisfied with their available natural resources have been forced to migrate because of changing global environment that has created growing insecurity in terms of food and their earlier normal livelihoods.
From the postmodernism critiques, all pros and cons of economic development should be reviewed in terms of finding new development alternatives. It accounts if we have really gained more at the cost of depleting the natural resources. Now global funding agencies have to make a widely acceptable policy hand in hand with environment and development. Poverty has been a pushing factor for migration. There are so many unrecorded forced migrations from different ecological zones that bring many challenges to the local environment adaptability. Therefore, environmental migration needs to be debated. In the case of world’s 20% population enjoy 80% of world’s resources is a big inequality. In this win and lose game, we are adding more numbers of losers or poor. Compared to 27 million global migrants, environmental migrants cover 25 million in 1995, which is really an issue of global problem. Those who have been hit by the global warming or changing climate and are forced to migrate have to be addressed through an alternative development policy. In the race of commoditization and consumeralism, industrialized countries which have promised to give the aid at the rate of their 1% GDP should follow the commitment on rehabilitation to internally displaced people. Let’s take a case of Himalayas where degrading environment generated many glacial lakes expansion endangering explosions and wiping out so many settlements adjoined by rivers. The people, who live nearby riverbeds and are completely dependent on rain fed arid lands, always feel threats of floods. Having less substantial agricultural and other economic activities, the people of this tropical land have to migrate involuntarily. Criticizing human induced climate change - who is responsible and who gets hurt - are now well understood. How to provide justice is a global question of adaptation to climate change. It is therefore, we have environmental displaced people as well as environmental refugees need who need to be recognized, and the big assignment is the problem we need to manage it before it manages us.
In the discussion, I would illustrate some cases of Himalayas where glacier are turning into bigger snow lakes potentially bear the glacial explosions. Fearing of unwanted and uncontrollable disasters, IDPs (internally displaced persons) are growing locally in the tropical Himalayan dwellers in Nepal to lower parts of the country. Castle, and Miller (2003), argue that migrations can change demographic, economic and social structure, and bring a new cultural diversity. It is true that when the receiver community doesn’t resist the existing migrations. But what happens if the receiver community feels economic threat, inadequate supply of services and political offence. It certainly fuels the social unrest. So the experience of migration is not always happy endings. It puts excessive pressure on supply side of basic goods and services. It creates new cultural conflicts and disintegration of societies. There are several such migration cases in Nepal, which contributed to the deforestation, environment pollution and social unrest and increased the number of slum areas. The Bhutanese refugees in East Nepal and Tibetan Refugees in different parts of the country are good examples of forced migration although they are politically motivated. In the camps of refugees, there are so many irregularities especially waste management and supply of basic needs. It has extensively contributed to the degradation of local environment. In respect to types of refugees, the new patterns of environmental refugees are of the topic of present debate. It is to be understood from global justice and need to be resettled to them in their homelands. If not possible, than the only solution is to improve and build capacity among them to adapt in new environment changes.
Conclusion:
Last couple of years, despite UN development programs worked for minimizing the desertification and deforestation; still a large area in sub-Saharan Africa, Indochina and Eurasia has environmental problems. Apart from this, incredible precipitation of water in the upper Himalaya zone has tremendously increased the potential explosion of glacial lakes. It has endangered all the settlements adjoined by river in downwards. If these glacial lakes were outburst, the consequence would be horrible which would wipe out a number of villages and cities. It is therefore, the development planners and workers need to work on natural disaster prevention and management. Since climate change is the product of rapid industrialization, the responsibility falls on big production companies to allocate some part of their income to invest on natural disaster prone areas such as glacial lakes in the Himalayas. There has been a little research done in the Mountain areas in connection with the formation of glacial lakes. They are preventable environmental problems if prior measures are taken appropriately. I agree with Duncan (2002) who argues that the nature and scale of contemporary climatic change presents developing areas with a particular challenge. He further suggests that to mitigate the challenges, proactive strategies are required to focus on food security in particular, and living conditions in general and such strategies must be underpinned by sound data on environmental behavior. In depth research studies in particular ecological zones are the foundations of the strategies to cope with natural disasters. I would like to conclude that global agencies are helping the third world countries only when there are natural disasters. And, these helps concentrate only particular short time help whereas it should have been for preventive approach. It is also equally important to meet the minimum requirements such as food, water, shelter and healthcare during the natural disasters incidences at the same time it would be much scrupulous to invest on resettlement of the internally displaced people in their homeland with sustainable livelihood opportunity. This is the issue that needs a wide level global development debate to reduce global environmental refugees and IDPs.
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