The ninth session of the 4th International E-Conference on “Migration, Governance, and COVID-19: Perspectives, Policies, Opportunities, and Challenges”, was held on November 4, 2022. The theme of the session was “Climate Change and Migration”. The session was chaired by Dr. M. Mahalingam who is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law of SGT University, Gurugram, Delhi-NCR, India.
The session began with Prof. Rani Mehta Department of Sociology, Punjab University Chandigarh. Through her paper on “Climate change, health risks, and vulnerability of migrants”, Dr.Mehta shed light on the plight of people who are victims of climate change related traumas. The health, socio-economic impacts, mental and physical ailments that impede people and rob them off their sense of security. She further focussed on direct, indirect and induced consequences of climate change, how social institutions cope with ecological threats, as a result of shifts in demographic regimes. Discussing some of the positive effect in the policy domain she stated how climate change strengthens the case of voluntary family planning and indirect family policy, especially investment in female education.
Ms. Richa, a PhD research scholar at Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, discussed her research on “Climate-induced mobility: An evidence-based study in Bihar, India”. Her research examined the inter-linkages among climate change, floods and migration using evidence from districts in North Bihar. Over the past two decades, floods have increased in Bihar, increasing the vulnerability of the region. She highlighted the push and full factors, attempting to address the question how and who migrates especially due to floods in Bihar. Through extensive field work they selected four districts for the sample of study, conducting survey research in 16 villages with over 400 respondents. The findings concluded that deplorable living conditions post floods triggered vulnerability ushering complete migration by some households.
Presenting her paper on “Climate change and migration: With reference to the coastal regions of India ” Ms. Sayma Parveen, MA Sociology student at Udit Narayan College, Uttar Pradesh, discussed the effects of climate change on the coastal region. Due to heavy rains and floods, people have been forced to flee their homes. The heavy rains increase the threat at coastal regions and the surrounding areas, the seawater mixes with usable water, having dire consequences. The effects on the environment, sea creatures, impacts the fishermen, affecting the economy. The livelihood and health of people living in these areas suffers as well, increasing risks of Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The next speaker was Ms. Fatma Khatoon, MA Sociology student at Udit Narayan College, Uttar Pradesh. Her paper on COVID-19, women’s and worker’s health, and migration focused on the impact of COVID-19 on the most vulnerable and marginalised populations of society such as women, underprivileged migrant workers and farmers. She focused on the loss of livelihoods and the unfortunate exodus of the migrant workers in 2020. Discussing the increased burden on women ushered by the pandemic she stated about the impact on women and children, their inability to access proper healthcare facilities, leaving them helpless and destitute.
Ms. Manisha Kaushik, a research scholar at International Institute for Population Sciences Mumbai presented her paper titled “The scenario of Internal Displaced People in India and its linkage with natural disasters in the last decade”. Taking into account the international Displacement Monitoring Centre from 2011-2022, she highlighted the regions where majority of internal displacement is taking place. In India there are 1.7 crore internally displaced persons, with Odisha, West Bengal Tamil Nadu, and North Eastern states of India reporting the highest number of people displaced. Floods, cyclones and natural disasters continue to displace populations and threaten livelihoods. The government allocated funds to meet these challenges to the impacted states. The colossal loss of human life due to these natural calamities has remained a pressing concern in these regions. Flood induced migration has ushered a new wave of vulnerable migrants who move to the overcrowded cities that are not equipped to accommodate them.
Md. Imran Khan, a PhD scholar at Department of Economics, Jamia Millia Islamia presented his research on “Mental health status of Indian migrant workers in the United Arab Emirates during COVID-19 pandemic”. His research paper explored the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on salary reduction of Indian migrant workers who are working in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). His research aimed to analyse the mental health of the Indian migrant workers in UAE during prolonged periods of isolation, unemployment and precarious situation during the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. He administered questionnaires to over 200 migrant workers, also using snowball sampling techniques to determine the severity of the impact on mental health of these workers. He made policy recommendations for the governments of the native and host country to create a safer environment to better support the workers.
Simran Dhingra is pursuing a Master’s in Conflict Analysis and Peacebuilding. She is a delegate, advocating for a nuclear weapons free world at Member State Party Youth Conference in Vienna, 2022 organised by Youth4TPNW. She has worked as Communications and Engagement intern with United Nations Climate Change, Germany and contributed to the COP26 held in Glasgow. She has interned with National Human Rights Commission India. Her commitment to gender, peacebuilding and human rights led her to be selected as one of the Young Ambassadors by Initiatives of Change, Switzerland (2021). She received a scholarship in recognition of her peacebuilding work to attend the Summer Peacebuilding Programme, organised by Middlebury Institute of International Studies USA. Her main areas of interest are gender, migration, peace and memory studies.