25-30% of Ctg slum dwellers are climate refugees: Study

Approximately 25-30% of the population at around 600 slums in Chattogram city are climate refugees, according to a study by Young Power in Social Action (YPSA).

Their occupations include housewives (25.3%), labourers (12.8%), unemployed (11%), domestic workers (8.7%), and garment workers (4.5%), the study finds.

A total of 36.8% of them have a monthly family income of Tk10,000-15,000, 24.4% have an income of Tk5,000-10,000, and 18% have an income of more than Tk20,000, it said.

The preliminary findings of the study were presented at a seminar at the conference room of the temporary office of the city corporation in Chattogram's Tigerpass on Thursday (25 April).

The research paper titled "Unravelling the Nexus of Climate-Forced Displacement and Rural-to-Urban Migration in Bangladesh: Impacts, Adaptation Strategies, and Policy Responses" was presented by Mohammad Shahjahan, director of the Research Cell Knowledge Management for Development (KM4D) of the organisation.

The data was compiled after interviewing 540 residents of 20 slums in 41 wards of the city.

While presenting the research paper, Mohammad Shahjahan said no specific information on the number of slums was found from various organisations while reviewing the literature of the research. 

"There was a lot of variation in the data on the number of slums and the residents of slums. This is the preliminary phase of the research. We will continue the research activities on a larger scale," he added.

The study noted that 50.9% of the slum dwellers have temporary houses made of bamboo and tin while 40.5% of the houses are semi-pucca and 7.3% are pucca.

Only 15% of the people interviewed are aware of climate change and the remaining 85% of the people are unaware of this issue.

A total of 70.4% of the climate refugees have fallen victim to river erosion, 15% to floods, 5.3% to tidal surges, 4.4% to cyclones and 1.3% to sea level rise have found new migration. Of these, about 40% of the people have been displaced once, 30% twice, 20% three times and 10% have been displaced once due to climate change,

Morshed Hossain Mollah, an official and researcher of YPSA moderated the seminar, while Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Chattogram City Corporation, Sheikh Muhammad Touhidul Islam, Professor Dr Md Iqbal Saroar of the Department of Geography and Environmental Science of Chittagong University (CU) and others also spoke.