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For more information on the Khulna consultation meeting, please contact:
IOM – Asma Alam, [email protected]
Nansen Initiative - Chirine El-Labbane, 01730860603,
Issue 3, 2015
Learning from a community displaced by Cyclone Aila
The participants were invited to see and interact first hand with a community in Bangladesh that was directly
affected by Cyclone Aila in 2009 and still endure the impact in their daily lives. Aila was one of the most devas-
tating cyclones that hit Bangladesh causing widespread damage and forcing 75 000 families to leave their home.
Twenty-six thousand families moved to informal camps like settlements or damaged embankments. The districts
of Khulna and Satkhira were the hardest hit. The area visited is called Dacope, a sub district of Khulna, close to
the Pashur river and mangrove forests of the Sunderbans.
Porivartan Consultation News
Visit to Dacope
Day 2 of the Consultation
Bangladesh Foreign Secretary at work with
Riaz Hamidullah, DG Econ, MOFA Bangladesh
Participants from Sri Lanka and Madagascar Discuss
their perspective during working groups in the after-
noon.
Shabarinath Nair, Regional Advisor, Embassy of Swit-
zerland/SDC, sharing his remarks with the partici-
pants of the consultation.
Prof. Kaelin and Ms. Kelly Flynn
preparing for the sessions
From the massive devastation caused by the Tsunami in 2004, there has been tremendous recovery. Total damages were
around 1 billion US dollars, over two decades of development destroyed. Massive population was displaced due to complete
breakdown in services and infrastructure in many islands. With the formation of ministerial level committee and task force,
immediate emergency supplies were followed by rehabilitation and reconstruction of infrastructure over the years.
Maldives
3rd amongst 15 countries most vulnerable to disasters. Floods, alternative drought and earthquakes are the most common
hazards affecting 0.5 million people annually. More than 1500 families were displaced in 2013. As a government response,
Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) had established in 1971 to develop policy and respond to
emergencies. National climate change adaptation programmes have also been undertaken in recent years.
Afghanistan Facts and Figures from the Khulna Consultation
Asia and the Pacific are home to 60% of the global population. It is also the most disaster prone and climate vulnerable re-
gion in the world. In 2013, 87% of the global total of displaced populations due to natural disasters was recorded in Asia.
National policies have been developed in South Asia on disaster preparedness and response with high priority. But migration
due to natural disasters is yet to be generally seen as a positive adaptation strategy.
IOM
“I believe that we may need to find out what is within our capacity of ad-
aptation, and also what is not. If forced ‘human mobility-displacement’ is
not adaptable, then we should think of ways in which we can uphold the
displaced peoples’ right to survive. This is surely within their evergreen
‘right to development’. It is in that context, as much as we see within
Bangladesh and elsewhere, we would need to look at the displaced per-
sons’ ‘choice’ and ‘ability’ to move elsewhere.”
Mr. Muhammad Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, Cabinet Secretary, Govern-
ment of Bangladesh
Quotes from the Consultation
“Climate change induced migration in the Southern Bangladesh is very
much evident. Rate of migration has increased tremendously after Cyclone
Aila in 2009. This migration is involuntary and it is not an adaptation op-
tion, but rather it is the last resort. They migrate due to lack of drinking
water and basic services. But even in relocated areas, basic services contin-
ue to be inadequate.”
Prof. Ainun Nishat, Professor Emeritus, Centre for Climate Change
and Environmental Research, BRAC University, Bangladesh
IDMC Disaster related displacement in South Asia during 1971 to 2011 was 342,000,000 people, while in the rest of the world the
figure is 616,000,000 people. One of the displacement risk drivers in South Asia is the increasing exposure due to population
growth and rapid, unplanned urbanization. In Bangladesh, it is estimated that 62% cent of urban residents live in slums, fol-
lowed by Nepal (58%), Pakistan (47%) and India (29%).
