Climate Migrants: A General Overview
As the new year rings in, we wanted to start with a general newsletter to acquaint our new readers with the definitions of climate refugees and general issues they face. Youth For Climate Refugees (YFCR) aims to raise awareness and money to support those who have lost their homes or are forced to migrate due to climate related issues. We hope you enjoy this month's newsletter.
The issue of climate change is acknowledged across the globe and is considered an issue of utmost importance, but one such issue that is connected with the impact of climate change that is not nearly emphasized enough in our society is climate migrants. The impact of climate change on migration is growing and soon will be one of humanity's biggest challenges. Our governments are not currently prepared for the repercussions that will arise as the severity of the climate migration increases.
As a result of climate change, we will experience extreme social, economical, and political concerns. Climate change is a widely acknowledged topic and many people are well versed on the primary impacts that come with this issue. These impacts include precipitation patterns, temperature, and the increased frequency and severity of weather events. The secondary impacts of climate change are the ones that will wreak havoc on our society, by causing displacement, weakened governments, instability, political conflict, and loss of livelihoods. Events like these are already starting to occur. A 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti in August, which led to thousands of Haitian migrants seeking refuge at the US-Mexico border. According to Micheal Shear from New York Times, mounted Border patrol agents could be seen rounding up distressed and desperate Haitian migrants, including families. They were later deported from the United States, while others were denied asylum status. Border services were overwhelmed and Shear stated that they made aggressive efforts to clear the makeshift refugee camp of 15,000, located in Del Rio. While Haiti is known for many devastating weather incidents and political instability, these factors have been intensified by climate change leading to migrants en masse. As stated by the white house in a report, titled “Report on The Impact of Climate Change on Migration”, “When combined with physical, social, economic, and/or environmental vulnerabilities, climate change can undermine food, water, and economic security.” All the issues we face as a society will be increased in severity with the backing of climate change. If our governments get overwhelmed at 15,000 people, how will we handle the millions that are estimated to be displaced in the future.
The increase in environmental issues caused by climate change will already weaken our food, water, and economic security. Combined with the large number of migrants that will leave their homes to seek refuge, this will pose a major threat to every government's stability and resources, which governments are not prepared to handle. Kamal Baher from The International Press Service explained that forecasts vary from 25 million to 1 billion environmental migrants by 2050, which could be external or internal displacement. 200 million is the most widely stated estimate among these forecasts. Maybe a country with resources and a stable economy and government could manage to accept a decent amount of refugees, but as stated by the UNHCR in a statistic, around 85% of refugees are hosted in developing countries. Most of these countries do not have the resources to support such extreme amounts of refugees, leading to poor hygiene, illness, food scarcity, and death. Countries with large amounts of refugees are already facing resource shortages, such as Jordan which can not produce enough water to provide adequate sanitation and hydration. This has already led to protests in which people lost their lives, and as time goes on events such as these will occur on a much larger scale. While many aren’t well versed in the issue of climate migrants, with just this information one can conclude that governments worldwide, including our own, aren’t adequately prepared to face this issue in the near future.
As the intensity of climate change grows we will see more displaced by secondary impacts of climate change, which will become a very prominent issue for us as a people in the following years. Our governments have not put enough effort or emphasis into preparing for the upcoming obstacles, which leaves us unprepared.
Image from: The Diplomatist
