Climatic, demographic and social structural forces contributing to internal migration in Bangladesh

The key findings of this paper is that even though internal migration is increasingly becoming a common coping mechanism in Bangladesh, it is not solely as a result of climatic factors, as is expected, because of the widely known fact that Bangladesh would be the hardest hit due to climate change. The migration pattern is complex and needs clear understating and methodology to separate climatic and non climatic factors of migration. The migration pattern can significantly vary depending on whether the population is faced with an extreme or sudden onset event such as cyclone, flood etc. or slow onset event such as droughts. Depending on the type of event the migration can be short term or long term, or simply temporary displacement. However this will also depend on non-climatic factors such as government policy, community resilience etc. For example if a disaster struck community receives adequate government support either in terms of post disaster relief n terms of food, shelter or financial help they are less likely to move from their area to a uncertain place where they have to struggle to find a job, shelter etc. Also, if the government has strong policy to provide adequate employment, and other facilities enjoyed by people in a better off places people in vulnerable areas will be less likely to migrate. Also if government and NGOS work together to prepare communities prior to disaster with various alternate livelihood training, building infrastructures such as cyclone shelters this will make the community more resilient to cope with disasters. All these factors need to be understood clearly by involving the community itself, so that a clear picture can be drawn of the migration causes and patterns. This is essential if the country wants to establish a strategic approach to mainstream or at least address the increasing migration and related issues within the country