Health Disorder of Climate Migrants in Khulna City: An Urban Slum Perspective

Abstract

As the most vulnerable climatic region in the country, Khulna City is increasingly experiencing climate‐change‐induced urban problems. For instance, occupancy by climate migrants (delete the term “illegal migrant”), drainage congestion, water logging and reduced fresh water availability are all increasing problems. In the last decade, the population in the city increased by more than 20 per cent due to migration from nearby climate vulnerable districts. This study explores the health disorders of climate migrants occupying the urban slums and squats of the Khulna City area. This study found that these climate migrants settled in the urban slums and squats and, as such, they do not have access to urban amenities such as clean drinking water, hygiene services, and health facilities. This study noted that these displaced people are at increased risk of health issues from unhygienic and overcrowded living conditions and from water and sanitation problems. They often suffer from different waterborne diseases, under‐nutrition and micronutrient deficiencies. This study suggests that there is a need for better planning, preparation and training in Bangladesh to which migrants move, including better training in health and related services on how to recognize and respond to health problems that may be slow to manifest. Education and training also need to be provided for the migrants themselves, to help them adapt culturally and to enhance their skills and potential for employment.

Climate change impacts and adaptations on health of Internally Displaced People (IDP): An exploratory study on coastal areas of Bangladesh

“…Furthermore, water and sanitation-related obstacles also raise the frequency of different diseases, such as cholera, diarrhea, typhoid, and hepatitis. Besides, various vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue, asthma, will increase in the low-income areas ( Martine and Fund, 2007 ; Rahaman et al., 2018 ). In the aspect of managing financial support regarding the health-related adaptation practices, Huang et al.…”

A Meta-Synthesis of Policy Recommendations Regarding Human Mobility in the Context of Climate Change

“…The third theme pertained to policy recommendations that sought to enable migrants to participate socially and economically in destination sites. The focus was on employment and income that have clear advantages for the health and well-being of both migrant and host populations as well as sending communities if remittances are mobilized [ 38 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 59 , 65 , 67 , 88 , 89 , 91 , 96 ]. These studies tended to focus on subsistence farmers in rural settings, although many other types of populations will have migration decisions influenced by climate change, and the causal pathways can appear over-simplified.…”

Trapped in the prison of the mind: Notions of climate-induced (im)mobility decision-making and wellbeing from an urban informal settlement in Bangladesh

“…However, the critical depth of its analytical approach has been criticised. Q has been accused of generalising, lacking transparency, and for suggesting to present subjective data in a more objective way than other qualitative DA approaches (Brown, 1996;Previte et al, 2007;Kanim, 2000). A person's subjectivity within Q is, as Brown (1980, p. 46) describes it, fundamentally a person's point of view.…”

“…People living in slums here, and particularly women, adolescents and children, report struggling more with mental health issues and lower quality of life than people in other urban areas (Islam et al, 2003;Mullick and Goodman, 2005;Izutsu et al, 2006;Khan and Flora, 2017). A few investigations even link mental ill-health and life dissatisfaction in the slums of Dhaka and Khulna to climateinduced mobility (Ruback et al, 2002(Ruback et al, , 2004Rahaman et al, 2018).…”