Pradyut Bordoloi, first-time MP from Assam, who served three terms as MLA in the Assam Legislative Assembly before that, has introduced a Private Members Bill in the ongoing session of the Parliament. (View Highlight)
Bordoloi’s private bill is called—The Climate Migrants (Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2022. And it is meant to “ establish an appropriate policy framework for the protection and rehabilitation of internally displaced climate migrants and for all matters connected therewith and incidental thereto ”. (View Highlight)
Back in Assam, says Bordoloi, all along the Brahmaputra—which, along with the Barak river, forms the two main water systems of the region—there are riverine islands (locally known as Char or Chapori ) which are now disappearing.
Many years ago, migrants came to these fertile islands from all over the country, but the majority were from east Bengal and east Pakistan. Of course, some of these islands would get eroded over the course of a few decades, but now, they are being eroded away in just three to four years.
Deforestation in the upper reaches of Brahmaputra and climatic shifts are the main reasons, Bordoloi says (View Highlight)
According to an Action Aid report, he says, 14 million people have already been displaced in India due to climate change. “Another ~50 million will be compelled to migrate by 2050 due to climate-related events, such as floods, cyclones, and droughts. And these numbers are based on projections that are very conservative.” (View Highlight)
India, Philippines, Bangladesh, and China top the list of countries that face maximum displacement due to climate change-induced natural disasters. (View Highlight)
Under present international laws, there are few legal options available to such migrants since it is not always possible to pin down climatic reasons as the primary cause of migration. As per the 1951 Refugee Convention, legal protection is afforded only to those fleeing their home “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion”. (View Highlight)
(View Highlight)