A series of panel discussions and other programmes on the International Migrants Day, 18th December, 2020, was jointly organized by the Global Research Forum on Diaspora and Transnationalism (GRFDT), Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA), Cross-Regional Centre for Refugees and Migrants (CCRM), and The Civil Society Action Committee. A number of scholars and experts on migration were invited to share their experiences and insights in order to make people aware of the difficult circumstances which the migrants deal with regularly and also for highlighting the flaws in existing systems related to migration.
A session titled “Climate Justice and the Right to Mobility For All” was held just before the end of the day long programme which was moderated by Andrew Fuys, who serves as the Director of Global Migration for Church World Service (CWS), an organization committed to ensuring dignity of all human beings. He was joined by three panelists who shared what climate justice looks like in the region they are working and what are the options that are already being explored and advocated for addressing mobility rights and to increase the protection of the people displaced by climate change and disasters related to it.
Pacific islanders at the receiving end of frequent climate disasters
The first speaker, Salote Soqo, is the Senior Partnership Officer for Climate Justice and Crisis Response at Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC), an internal human rights organization. The organization deals with partners in various countries in the Pacific, all of whom are at risk of being displaced from their homes due to ‘climate crisis’.
While focusing on the plight of the inhabitants on islands in the Pacific, Soqo mentioned how the recent Cyclone Yasa has devastated the lives of the people of Fiji. Described as one of the world’s strongest storms by the Prime Minister of Fiji, Yasa is expected to impact about 850,000 people (almost 95% of Fiji’s population). In the coastal areas, wave heights were expected to be about 16 metres.
Fiji has a history of being regularly hit by cyclones recently. “These cyclones are supposed to be happening only once in 8-9 years and not every year”, said Soqo. What makes it worse is that the people of Fiji have still not recovered from the destruction caused by Cyclone Winston (2016). The damage it caused amounts to a quarter of the country’s annual GDP. The cyclones have destroyed the essential infrastructural developments and progress that the country had made over decades.
“Due to global warming, the oceans are heating up and the intensity and frequency of these cyclones are becoming stronger. Our seas are also rising. Corals are dying. Food and water supplies are becoming scarce.”
The pandemic along with its economic implications have aggravated people’s misery. The tourism sector, which is the main driver of local economy, has suffered leading to loss of jobs. The inhabitants are finding it difficult to cope with so many adversities and the effectiveness of government’s response has dwindled significantly.
Other islands in the Pacific are suffering from the slow environmental changes due to the emission of industrialized countries and the frequency of these natural disasters. People are being forced to move out of their ancestral lands.
“A lot of the issues being faced by these communities, which are impacting their human rights and dignities, are not of their own making. That’s where the injustice lies”.
According to Soqo, since the governments don’t have the capacity to deal with such a huge crisis, the role of civil societies and all such networks is critical. Bilateral labour agreements with countries like Australia and New Zealand have helped to sustain people back home. But there is a need to ensure their rights during cross-border migration. We also need to demand that the industrialized countries contribute more money for improving the climate. Finally, local laws and policies regarding internal displacement need to be strengthened as mobility does not preclude the right to stay with dignity.
Climate related disasters coupled with hostile border authorities augmenting misery
Helena Olea, serves as Associate Director for Programs for Alianza Americas. She warned that the situation is dire at the moment in Central America. Two tropical storms hit El Salvador and Guatemala in the middle of year which resulted in significant floods and landslides. Two other hurricanes Eta and Iota landed on the shores of Central America and its impact was most felt in Nicaragua and Honduras.
“When we looked at the communities who were affected in Guatemala, it was not surprising that it was Mayan indigenous communities. Almost 60 of them died.”
According to Olea, Central America has been badly affected because of the presence of the Dry Corridor. The land is significantly arid and the impact of significant amount of rains result in flooding and in landslides. As always, the indigenous population in these regions are the worst sufferers.
There has been a steady flow of immigrants from Guatemala and Honduras in recent years due to rising violence and hunger. Agriculture is becoming difficult due to climate change. The governments haven’t been able to provide adequate protection as well.
“Thousands of families have lost their homes are finding it difficult to rebuild them. Migration to the north is going to be the most likely answer they are going to have for their survival”.
Though countries in Central America have an agreement between them which allows individuals to move freely between them, individuals need to have their identification documents and in some cases, they don’t have those. To make matters worse, USA has adopted strict immigration policies. Guatemala brings its armies to the border areas to interrupt migration and forces individuals to return. All this has made opportunities for movement much more limited and increased the plight of these people significantly.
Over 260,000 individuals have been forced to return back to Mexico from the USA borders. Olea stressed on the need to find possible avenues for individuals to migrate and more legislative options for them.
“There should be both mitigation and adaptation policies that we should be observing to respond to climate change. We are seeing very little of that due to the terrible economic conditions in which most of these countries are due to natural disasters and also corruption which very often makes international organizations to collaborate for projects with these governments.”
Better understanding of climate change required before addressing it
Lucia Galoppo, Legal Coordinator for CAREF (Comision Argentina Para Refugiadosy Migrantes), talked about the situation in South America.
South America has been known for its good practices in matters of migration and this makes it difficult to put the spotlight on certain issues of concern at international forums. It is generally considered that having economic reasons to migrateentails a voluntary choice on the part of the migrant and that they are somehow less troubled than other migrants seeking asylum. What is ignored is that these people don’t have access to a decent life anymore due to factors related to exploitation, climate change, food and security.
For Galoppo, we need to understand how the way we treat land has significant consequences for the environment. People here fail to acknowledge migrations taking place due to climate change.
“We need to address this issue by land management and focusing on exploitation of natural resources which has a slower impact on the climate and hence not easily identified. We create climate change ourselves by unfair systems of production and exploitation of land”.
South America makes it possible for people to migrate from one region to another without having to surrender most of their rights. The countries have been able to handle migrations from a human rights perspective and these systems need to be sustained and strengthened in future as well.
Subhadip Mukherjee is currently a Doctoral Fellow at The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad. His interest areas include Postcolonial studies, Transnationalism, Cosmopolitanism, Diaspora literature, Literary theory, Indian writing in English and Climate fiction. Twitter profile @SubhadipMuk.