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Environmental Change and Forced Migration Scenarios (EACH-FOR) Project A research project funded under the European Commission 6th Framework Programme

Preliminary Findings

from the EACH-FOR project on

Environmentally Induced Migration

Tajikistan

Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan

Egypt

Turkey

Mozambique

Vietnam

Morocco

Ghana

Senegal

Niger

Dominican

Republic, Haiti

Mexico

Ecuador

Argentina

Russia

China

Tuvalu

Bangladesh

Spain

The Balkans

Western

Sahara

Tajikistan

Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan

Egypt

Turkey

Mozambique

Vietnam

Morocco

Ghana

Senegal

Niger

Dominican

Republic, Haiti

Mexico

Ecuador

Argentina

Russia

China

Tuvalu

Bangladesh

Spain

The Balkans

Western

Sahara

Prepared by the EACH-FOR Project Consortium (www.each-for.eu)

1 September 2008


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CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................ 2

II. EACH-FOR PROJECT RESEARCH ACTIVITIES ON ENVIRONMENTALLY INDUCED MIGRATION..... 3

III. PRELIMINARY FINDINGS FROM THE EACH-FOR PROJECT CASE STUDIES..................................... 5

REGION 1: EUROPE AND RUSSIA ...................................................................................................................... 6 Spain ......................................................................................................................................................... 6 Turkey ....................................................................................................................................................... 7 Balkans: Danube Basin............................................................................................................................. 8 Russia ....................................................................................................................................................... 9

REGION 2: CENTRAL ASIA .............................................................................................................................. 10 Kazakhstan ............................................................................................................................................. 10 Kyrgystan ................................................................................................................................................ 11 Tajikistan ................................................................................................................................................. 12

REGION 3: ASIA-PACIFIC................................................................................................................................ 13 Bangladesh ............................................................................................................................................. 13 China....................................................................................................................................................... 14 Tuvalu ..................................................................................................................................................... 15 Vietnam ................................................................................................................................................... 16

REGION 4: SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA .................................................................................................................. 17 Ghana ..................................................................................................................................................... 17 Mozambique............................................................................................................................................ 18 Niger........................................................................................................................................................ 19 Senegal ................................................................................................................................................... 20

REGION 5: MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA ................................................................................................. 21 Egypt ....................................................................................................................................................... 21 Morocco .................................................................................................................................................. 22 Western Sahara ...................................................................................................................................... 23

REGION 6: LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN .................................................................................................... 24 Argentina................................................................................................................................................. 24 Dominican Republic/Haiti ........................................................................................................................ 26 Ecuador................................................................................................................................................... 27 Mexico..................................................................................................................................................... 28

ATTACHMENT A ............................................................................................................................................ 29

Suggested reference for this paper: EACH-FOR (2008) "Preliminary Findings from the EACH-FOR project on Environmentally Induced Migration". Environmental Change and Forced Migration Scenarios Project, www.each-for.eu


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I. INTRODUCTION

The following is a summary of research performed by the Environmental Change and Forced Migration Scenarios (EACH-FOR) Project Consortium. The EACH-FOR project is a research project funded under the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) (Priority [8.1] - Policy-oriented research) of the European Commission. This research consortium began in January 2007 and will run until December 2008 and includes the following institutions:

1. The European Research Centre on Migration and Ethnic Relations, Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR/Erasmus MC), The Netherlands

2. The Center on Migration, Citizenship and Development, Faculty of Sociology,

University of Bielefeld, Germany (UNIBI - COMCAD)

3. Institute for Environment and Human Security, United Nations University (UNU-EHS), Bonn, Germany:

4. Sustainable Europe Research Institute (SERI), Vienna, Austria:

5. Center for Ethnic and Migration Studies (CEDEM), Université de Liège, Belgium:

6. Department of Medieval, Modern and American History, Universidad del País

Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV-EHU), Spain

7. ATLAS Innoglobe Ltd., Budapest, Hungary Overall EACH-FOR findings will be analysed and tested in greater depth towards the end of 2008 as the project draws to a close. Hence, the findings reported here are preliminary and still subject to peer review and to more scientific dialogue. The purpose of this document is to provide insights into emerging patterns from desk and field work. Content and statements in this summary document should be understood as early indicators only.


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II. EACH-FOR PROJECT RESEARCH ACTIVITIES ON ENVIRONMENTALLY INDUCED MIGRATION

The EACH-FOR project is conducting the following research activities linked to environmentally induced migration:

• Developing working definitions of environmentally displaced persons (Attachment A)*

• Selecting case study countries by identifying locations facing environmental stressors or change. Locations were chosen where there has been a documented presence of rapid-onset environmental stressors (e.g. extreme weather events such as floods and cyclones); slow-onset environmental stressors (e.g. water scarcity, desertification, soil degradation or deforestation) or development-induced environmental change (e.g. construction of dams). Generally developing countries were chosen for research because in such countries people are directly dependent on the environment for their livelihood and hence most vulnerable to environmental stressors.

• Conducting fieldwork including:

� semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders and experts from non-government organisations, government departments, international organisations and academic institutions who work in the migration, environmental, disaster relief, social welfare, development and agricultural sectors;

� conducting a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews with migrants; and

� conducting a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews with people (non-migrants) living in areas with documented environmental degradation.

• Conducting a modelling exercise where international migration data is regressed against the occurrence of natural disasters or environmental stressors in the country of migration origin.

• Producing scenarios of possible future displacement patterns due to environmental stressors for selected case studies.

* Please note there is inconsistency in the use of terminology about environmentally displaced persons amongst the individual case studies mentioned within this report. It has been too early for a systematic reflection upon the appropriateness or inadequacies of the working definitions developed by the EACH-FOR project. However the usefulness of the EACH-FOR project Working Definitions of Environmentally Displaced Persons will be addressed when we reflect on the terminology in a final report of the project.


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In total there are 22 research case studies within the EACH-FOR Project. These are highlighted in the map below.

Tajikistan

Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan

Egypt

Turkey

Mozambique

Vietnam

Morocco

Ghana

Senegal

Niger

Dominican

Republic, Haiti

Mexico

Ecuador

Argentina

Russia

China

Tuvalu

Bangladesh

Spain

The Balkans

Western

Sahara

Tajikistan

Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan

Egypt

Turkey

Mozambique

Vietnam

Morocco

Ghana

Senegal

Niger

Dominican

Republic, Haiti

Mexico

Ecuador

Argentina

Russia

China

Tuvalu

Bangladesh

Spain

The Balkans

Western

Sahara

Field work being carried out in the 22 case study areas highlighted in the map above is seeking to address the following eight research questions:

1. Who has been migrating away from situations of environmental degradation/change?

2. Where are migrants coming from and where are they going to?

3. Why are people migrating?

4. How does environmental degradation interplay with other social, economic and political factors in making migration decisions?

5. What might have prevented migration in the first place (i.e. what assistance was needed, what was lacking?)?

6. Why have people living in areas of environmental degradation/ change been able to stay in their location while others migrated (coping strategies/adaptation)?

7. How have migration activities occurred (choice of destination, what networks were used to facilitate migration, what are the patterns of migration?)

8. What is the perception of environmental degradation that triggers people to move?


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III. PRELIMINARY FINDINGS FROM THE EACH-FOR PROJECT CASE STUDIES

Not all 22 case studies of the EACH-FOR project have been completed yet. Preliminary general findings to date are as follows:

• fieldwork suggests:

- land tenure matters

- disasters, development and slow-paced environmental change are three factors that contribute to environmentally induced migration

- environmental stressors are increasingly prompting governments in developing countries to plan for the relocation and resettlement of affected and vulnerable populations

- migration may be a climate change adaptation strategy but the worst-off people might not have the resources to move and may not move very far (likely not internationally)

- environmental stressors in combination with lack of sufficient aid or capability to maintain or establish alternative livelihood options can lead to migration

- anecdotal indicators suggest that environmental stressors can make people more vulnerable to human trafficking

• the modelling exercise suggests that after the established push-pull factors are accounted for in migration decisions, environmental factors have a statistically significant relationship with migration. The modelling suggests we have a small but significant environmental signal in migration

Summary of Initial Findings from Case Studies The EACH-FOR fieldwork summarised below is preliminary and based on early reports from completed fieldwork. The fieldwork order was determined on a pragmatic basis and does not reflect any particular ranking of countries (fieldwork scheduling depended on availability of local partners in the field). Research being carried out by the EACH-FOR project is divided into 6 geographical regions.


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REGION 1: EUROPE AND RUSSIA

Spain

Case Study Country/Countries: Spain Environmental Issue(s) Addressed: Water Shortage and desertification Case Study Site(s): Southeastern regions of Spain: Murcia and Almeria Researcher(s): Alfons Fermin, EUR/Erasmus MC

With contributions of: Oscar Alvarez Gila, UPV-EHU; Jill Jäger, SERI; and Johannes Frühmann, SERI

Preliminary Comments and Findings: • In the past, these regions experienced considerable out-migration, due to underdevelopment and

scarce natural resources for traditional cultivation. Spain was traditionally an emigration country, but has been transformed within a few decades into Europe’s main location for immigration. During the last few decades, also in these south-eastern regions of Spain there is significant in-migration: retirement migration from other EU countries (amenity migration) and labour migration from CEE, Latin America and the Maghreb. In addition, these regions are ‘flooded’ by tourists from Spain itself (second home) and other European countries.

• When Spain became part of the European Union and its internal market in 1986 it was forced to replace traditional family agriculture by an ‘industry of agricultural production’ which has led to an exponential increase in demand for water. At the same time the new modes of cultivation led to an increased use of fertilizers, which resulted in pollution of rivers and groundwater sources. The growth of this industry of agricultural production is dependent on the supply of cheap labour, mainly consisting of (illegal) immigrants.

• Not only agricultural but also tourist activities (resorts, swimming pools, golf courses) consume a large amount of water, leading to stress on both protected areas and on scarce water resources. This leads to overuse of groundwater resources and erosion, which may accelerate the process of desertification in the vulnerable areas of this region.

• Out-migration from the regions of Murcia and Almeria is not a significant issue at the moment. However, the harsh environment was one of the factors motivating out-migration, and in the future the situation may change again. This study will therefore look back and forward, and analyse the vulnerability of this region to desertification, erosion and water shortage and it will focus on the question whether the current level of development and the current service economy postpones an urgency to migrate away from the arid environmental conditions and related problems.

• According to scenarios, Spain and Portugal will be most affected by climate change within Europe, with significant rise in temperature (5-7 degrees Celsius inland, 2100), lower rainfall, and recurring droughts. If non-sustainable use of the natural resources by agriculture and tourism continues, this together with the expected climate change conditions might lead to exhaustion of the water resources, soil erosion and desertification, which in turn might lead to an economic downturn and an outmigration in the future.

• The core questions for this study are: (1) why is there no outmigration in relation to environmental degradation in this Spanish case, while there was considerable outmigration in the past? How is this change in migration patterns related to social, demographic, political, institutional and economic changes during the last decades? (2) What are plausible future scenarios, combining the results from climate change models with other scenarios (of no adaptation to the arid, vulnerable conditions or sustainable development)?

• The Case Study Report is still not available; therefore it is not possible to present initial findings at the moment.


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Turkey

Case Study Country/Countries: Turkey Environmental Issue(s) Addressed: (a) Dam Construction;

(b) Water Shortage Case Study Site(s): (a) Southeast Turkey (Adiyaman - Samsat District; Urfa city

centre) West of Turkey (Didim-Yalikoy village; Izmir - Torbali) (b) Southeast Turkey (Urfa - Suruc District); Istanbul

Researcher(s): Zeynep Kadirbeyoglu, McGill University Research is subcontracted by Thomas Faist and Stefan Alscher of UNIBI - COMCAD

Preliminary Comments and Findings: Case Study Site (a) – Ataturk Dam, Southeast of Turkey (Samsat district, Urfa city centre); West of Turkey (Didim-Yalikoy village; Izmir - Torbali) • Ataturk Dam was constructed in the 1980s and flooded one district (Samsat), 28 villages and 64

hamlets. The inhabitants of these villages were given two basic options: to receive expropriation compensation and self-relocate, or, to be relocated by the state.

• Fieldwork was conducted with one group relocated by the state to Izmir in the west of Turkey. Interviews were also carried out with those who decided to self-relocate to Urfa. These cases were examined to evaluate adaptation of the forced-migrants to their new environment; their economic and social well-being and whether the migration process had caused distress or led to better conditions. The goal was to uncover the details of the migration process, assess whether migrants were satisfied where they were, and identify future prospects for migration.

• Preliminary findings indicate that migration was not easy and there were significant hardships during the process. However, most migrants seem satisfied where they are now and with their current prospects. Some who received expropriation compensation were initially hard-hit because they invested the money in businesses which then failed. Others found it hard to find accommodation in Urfa with the rise in real estate prices.

• Overall, the experience of those who were relocated outside of the region and found it hard to adapt to the changes in the social environment as well as the unwelcoming attitudes of the locals led the state to reconfigure its relocation policies and take into account the views and demands of the forced migrants in a participatory manner for future projects.

Case Study Site (b) – Urfa-Suruc District; Istanbul • Up to the mid 1990s, the economy of Suruc was dependent on irrigated agriculture, especially for

growing cotton and other high value-added crops. The cultivation of these products relied on underground water for irrigation through pumps. Water levels started to fall in the 1990s – some claim it was the construction of Ataturk Dam upstream which blocked the underground water channels and caused the severe water shortage in the district.

• Those whose livelihood depended on irrigated agriculture started migrating to the city centre or to other cities throughout Turkey and even internationally. Some chose to be seasonal migrants becoming tenants or sharecroppers and continuing agricultural production in other districts or provinces, while others shifted to working in other sectors. Overall, these migrants experienced severe hardship and there was no state support in the process.


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Balkans: Danube Basin

Preliminary Findings Not Yet Available


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Russia

Preliminary Findings Not Yet Available


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REGION 2: CENTRAL ASIA

Kazakhstan

Case Study Country/Countries: Kazakhstan Environmental Issue(s) Addressed: a) Desertification and Water Stress

b) Nuclear Testing Case Study Site(s): a) Aral Sea region, Almaty

b) Semipalatinsk Researcher(s): Meruert Mahmutova, Public Policy Research Center, Almaty

Bakhytnur Otarbayeva, Public Policy Research Center Almaty Rosa Aitikeyeva, International Organization for Migration, Almaty Aina Shormanbayeva, International Organization for Migration, Almaty Research is subcontracted and coordinated by Francois Gemenne, CEDEM

Preliminary Comments and Findings Not Yet Available


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Kyrgystan

Case Study Country/Countries: Kyrgyzstan Environmental Issue(s) Addressed: Soil Pollution ; Waste Disposal ; Landslides ; Earthquakes Case Study Site(s): Whole country with particular focus on the Ferghana Valley Researcher(s): Merighiul Ablezova, Social Research Center, American University

of Central Asia Emil Nasritdinov, Social Research Center, American University of Central Asia Jypara Abakirova, Regional Center for Migration and Refugee Issues Research is subcontracted and coordinated by Francois Gemenne, CEDEM

Preliminary Comments and Findings:

Migrants: • The research team studied 30 migrant families living in 11 villages in 3 provinces of Kyrgyzstan. The

analysis produced the following chronological chain of events describing the migration caused by environmental problems.

• In the mountainous regions of Kyrgyzstan, animal husbandry is the main source of income and survival for population. In the harsh economic realities after the break-up of the Soviet Union, people tried to increase stock breeding. In the absence of state-regulated control this led to overgrazing of pasture lands. Overgrazing led to soil erosion and to increased land-sliding and flooding activity. Environmental degradation and danger related to landslides became the main reasons for migration. No other factor (economic, social, or political) had such importance.

• The government supported resettlement both forcefully and with long-term loans for building houses. They also provided people with new land. However, because of the overpopulation in the Southern Kyrgyzstan, these lands were very small and given in the places with little water and no space for grazing animals. Therefore, migrants moved from better places to often much worse places. They used their savings and livestock for migrating to new place, just to find out that it is very hard to survive there. In the migration process, they managed to preserve some of their family links, but lost almost all broader social networks.

Non- Migrants: • The research also studied 36 non-migrant families living in 7 villages in 3 provinces in Kyrgyzstan.

The results show that those who remained behind generally are economically better off than those who left. They preserve their land and animal stock. However, they are strongly affected by environmental disasters/deterioration and by out-migration.

• The main effect of environmental problems is on their physical and psychological health (especially in the places of former uranium mines) and on their livelihood (decline of harvest and loss of animal stock).

• The effect of out-migration results in the lost socio-cultural milieu, ageing population, demoralized youth and deterioration of physical infrastructure. The pressure on those who stay builds up: most of them want to leave because of environmental problems, but cannot. On one hand they are afraid of economic difficulties in the new places; on the other hand they don’t have means to move.


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Tajikistan

Case Study Country/Countries: Tajikistan Environmental Issue(s) Addressed: Soil Pollution, Degradation and Erosion; Mudflow; Landslides;

Floods, Earthquakes Case Study Site(s): Whole country with particular focus on the Ferghana Valley Researcher(s): Ozar Saidov, International Organization for Migration, Dushanbe

Parviz Khakimov, Institute of Demography, Dushanbe Moensho Mahmadbekov, Institute of Demography, Dushanbe Research is subcontracted and coordinated by Francois Gemenne, CEDEM

Preliminary Comments and Findings: • Tajikistan is a mountainous country (mountains cover 93% of the territory) with most environmental

problems closely related to water. Moreover 60% of water in Central Asia is located in Tajikistan. Field research has revealed that landslides, mudflow and floods are the most common environmental problems which become reasons for migration of people. Earthquakes, another natural disaster which periodically occur because the country is located in a high seismic zone, were also identified as a reason for migration.

• 90% of land in Tajikistan is subject to degradation such as soil salinity, soil pollution, soil erosion and desertification. But currently the different kinds of land degradation have not yet become a reason for migration, because most of the non-migrants interviewed in the region said they had other important sources of income (mostly seasonal international labour migration) and were willing to remain in their homeland until their house is destroyed. These people remain potential migrants. Seasonal international labour migration is accelerated by land degradation.

• Between 2000 and 2004, 7664 households which faced different environmental problems such as floods or landslides were resettled. The environmental problems resulted in the death of 300 people over the last 10 years. There are further plans to resettle 7200 households during the period 2005-2010.

• The resettlement process, which includes land for building a house, a built house and some financial compensation, is sponsored by the government and some international organisations which help displaced persons.

• Amongst the resettled people interviewed, different levels of satisfaction with the resettlement process were observed.


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REGION 3: ASIA-PACIFIC

Bangladesh

Case Study Country/Countries: Bangladesh Environmental Issue(s) Addressed: Sea-Level Rise ; Cyclones Case Study Site(s): Coastal Regions of Bangladesh (South West), chars (moving

islands) on Jamuna river (North West), Dhaka Researcher(s): Alice Poncelet, CEDEM Preliminary Comments and Findings: • Bangladesh is often considered as the country that could be most affected by climate change, due to

its low elevation (a significant part of its territory being under sea-level) and the melting of the Himalaya glaciers that will result in increased floods in deltaic regions. Bangladesh is also affected by sudden disasters, such as cyclone Sidr that recently hit the country.

• Given the political instability of the region, population movements associated with climate change could pose a threat to regional security.

• Adaptation strategies could reduce the environmental vulnerability and increase the resilience of local populations. The role of the government in disaster management, early warning systems and adaptation mechanisms are expected to play a crucial role

• Initial findings from the field research indicate: - After the floods and recent cyclones, families living in coastal regions and along rivers in the

South West have lost all their possessions, job opportunities and sometimes family members. - Rice growing practices have been converted into shrimp culture because of the salinisation of

water. These shrimps, however, are too expensive to be locally consumed and are therefore almost entirely exported. This shift has resulted in important job losses, since shrimp culture requires a smaller workforce. Moreover, fishing has become increasingly intensive, and thus less profitable.

- Following these natural disasters, households develop different strategies to expand their means of subsistence. Fathers might temporarily migrate to urban centres such as the capital Dhaka, but also major, closer cities like Khulna or Barisal in order to work and send remittances. Some migrate in a seasonal fashion and move where the work is situated. Others migrate with the whole family, while some opt not to migrate since the process is complex and resource-consuming – this financial investment might not be affordable for the poorest families. These families might rather try to get by in their home area where they are able to retain their few possessions and social networks.

- These natural disasters induce other adaptation mechanisms such as human trafficking (mostly towards India). For example women with children, whose husbands either died at sea during cyclone Sidr or are away on temporary migration, are easy prey for traffickers and end up in prostitution networks or in forced labour in India.

- After the floods, smugglers promised to bring groups of about 80 men from devastated villages to Northern India so that they could find work. These men had invested all their savings in the journey, but ended up in sweatshops at the Indian border, where they were tortured. Some entire families also fell victims of these smugglers.

- This trafficking has existed for a while, but was reinforced by recent disasters that created more vulnerable people.

- The Government has now created a new ministry dealing with the management of natural disasters. This ministry tries to resettle populations in places close to their home livelihood, even though these places remain at risk. However no plan exists to deal with population movements in the slum areas of increasingly saturated Dhaka.


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China

Case Study Country/Countries: China Environmental Issue(s) Addressed: (a) Dam Construction

(b) Desertification Case Study Site(s): (a) Three Gorges Dam affected regions, Shangdong Province,

Jiangsu Province, Chongming Island of Shanghai ,Zhejiang Province (b) Erenhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

Researcher(s): (a) Lixia Tang, Agricultural University of China (b) François Gemenne, CEDEM Lixia Tang, Agricultural University of China

Preliminary Comments and Findings: Case Study Site (a) – Three Gorges Dam • Large-scale population displacement (approximately 1.2 million people to date and, in the future, it is

reported that a further 2 million people or more may be resettled) has resulted from the construction of the Three-Gorges Dam on the Yang-Tse river. The populations displaced by the building of the Three-Gorges Dam have relocated in a wide array of places, sometimes very far away from their original place of living.

• The mechanisms of protection have been very diverse: some have been relocated and have received compensation, while others have been taken care of far less. In general, the populations indirectly affected, whose houses were not flooded, did not receive compensation, even though they also had to move.

• The issue is very sensitive for the Chinese government. Case Study Site (b) – Rangeland Degradation and Resettlement Programs in Inner Mongolia • This component of the China case study is intended to investigate, at the individual, household and

community scales, how pastoralists make the decision to move or stay. • Rangeland degradation in a large part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region meant that

pastoralists were encouraged, organised and subsidised to stop using their household contracted rangelands and to resettle in some small town or urban areas. In this way, the rangelands are expected to regenerate without grazing activities.

• Two kinds of efforts have been launched in 2001 and 2006 to move people out of the pastoral area. One was to organise pastoralists to raise dairy cows in a newly built village and the other was to subsidise them to move to an urban area.

• In the dairy cow village program, many pastoralists moved there with the hope of earning a high income, which is a very different focus to the local government's intention of protecting rangelands. Two years after being resettled initial fodder subsidies were withdrawn and many of those resettled went bankrupt and had to move back to their original home on the rangelands to continue herding livestock. Many of those who remained are elderly people. Although some households have more dairy cows, they are still very dependent on the incomes being generated from livestock in pastoral areas. The failure of the cow village program has a negative impact on pastoralists' decisions to join the program of urban resettlement.

• Pastoralists who migrated to the city in the recent program have great difficulty in finding jobs. Many feel they are not used to life in urban areas. Most families are very dependent on the subsidies given to them for leaving rangeland areas. They are also dependent on their livestock, which are contracted to the pastoral households who stayed in the pastoral area, both for consumption and income.


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Tuvalu

Case Study Country/Countries: Tuvalu Environmental Issue(s) Addressed: Sea-Level Rise, Erosion, Waste Disposal, Water Stress Case Study Site(s): Funafuti Atoll, Tuvalu and Auckland, New Zealand Researcher(s): François Gemenne, CEDEM (Tuvalu)

Shawn Shen, University of Auckland/ University of Otago (New Zealand)

Preliminary Comments and Findings: • No country seems more convinced that it faces the imminent threat of climate change than the

Pacific atoll nation of Tuvalu. With a chain of 9 coral atolls and islets, Tuvalu is not only physically small, but also geographically flat with its peak elevation less than 4.5 metres above sea level. As the entire population lives on the coastline, the immediate threat of rising sea levels is unavoidable.

• Local knowledge of global warming is variable, but certainly the frequent saltwater flooding, accelerated coastal erosion and increased difficulty to grow vegetables and plants have all become day-to-day challenges.

• Tuvalu’s environmental problems are further compounded with water shortage, waste disposal and overpopulation on the atolls.

• New Zealand is the prime destination for those leaving Tuvalu: to many Tuvaluan climate ‘refugees’, New Zealand is the place where Tuvaluans build their home for future generations.

• New Zealand’s special Pacific Access Category immigration policy (a labour migration agreement which allows a small number of citizens from Tonga, Tuvalu, Kiribati and Fiji to migrate to New Zealand each year), well-established community and strong socio-cultural ties, explain New Zealand as the relocation choice for Tuvaluans.

• For many Tuvaluan families, migration is a risk-reduction strategy for the future: uncertainties about the future seem to be preeminent migration drivers, even more than actual environmental concerns.

• Although media rumours have suggested a nation-wide resettlement agreement made between New Zealand and Tuvalu, there is no explicit policy to accept Pacific Islanders who have been environmentally displaced due to rising sea levels.

• Australia has refused to consider admitting any environmental refugees displaced by rising sea levels.

• The responses from the Australian and New Zealand governments may have undermined the implications for immigration and security in the era of climate change with ever-increasing numbers of climate refugees.


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Vietnam

Case Study Country/Countries: Vietnam Environmental Issue(s) Addressed: Flooding Case Study Site(s): Mekong Delta, particularly An Giang Province Researcher(s): Olivia Dun, UNU-EHS Preliminary Comments and Findings: • Vietnam’s location at the base of Mekong River means that the entire flood waters of the 4400km

long main stream of the Mekong River drain through the portion of the Mekong Delta located in Vietnam which has an elevation of only 0 - 4 metres above sea-level.

• Regular flooding of the Mekong River affects 40-50% of the land area across 9 Vietnamese provinces and occurs annually between July and November creating important breeding habitats for fish and distributing valuable upstream sediments and soils in the delta environment. As a consequence, this enriched flood plain constitutes approximately 40% of the cultivated land in Vietnam and is known as the ‘rice bowl’ of the country because it produces more than 50% of the country’s staple food and 60% of the fish-shrimp production.

• Slow-onset flooding of the Mekong River is therefore considered an integral part of the livelihoods of the Vietnamese population living in the Delta (nearly eighteen million or 22% of the total population). However, varying flood levels and durations can have negative consequences, increasing the vulnerability of directly-affected households and requiring adaptation strategies.

• In the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, where multiple natural and human-induced environmental stresses interact in fragile ecosystems, people cope with these stressors in a number of ways. Preliminary research about these migration-related coping mechanisms indicates: - During the flooding season, people undertake seasonal labor migration and movement towards

urban centers to bolster livelihoods. - That for those directly dependent on agriculture for their livelihood (usually rice farmers),

successive flooding events leading to destruction of crops on more than one occasion can drive people to migrate elsewhere in search of an alternative livelihood.

- As an extreme coping mechanism, anecdotal indicators point to human trafficking into neighboring areas as one strategy adopted by families who have suffered from water-related stressors.

- The government as part of a flood management and environmental sanitation strategy is currently undertaking planned resettlement of people living in vulnerable zones along river banks


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REGION 4: SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Ghana

Case Study Country/Countries: Ghana Environmental Issue(s) Addressed: Unreliable rainfall, poor soil fertility Case Study Site(s): Source area: Upper West Region, destination area: Brong Ahafo

Region Researcher(s): Kees Van der Geest, University of Amsterdam

Research is subcontracted by Alfons Fermin and Han Entzinger of EUR/Erasmus MC

Preliminary Comments and Findings: • In Ghana, preliminary fieldwork suggests that migration linked to environmental issues occurs

internally in Ghana. • Livelihoods in Ghana´s North West region are mainly based on small scale rain-fed agricultural

subsistence. Most farmers there grow millet, sorghum, maize, groundnuts, yams, cassava, rice and beans. Migration appears to be a traditional risk management strategy in this area, with almost a third (30.8%) of the people who were born in the North West now living in another location. In addition to this (semi-) permanent migration, seasonal migration by predominantly young adult men is an important way to supplement meagre farm incomes

• Poor agro-ecological conditions at home combined with easy access to fertile lands in the more humid destination area make many Northerners decide to relocate to Ghana’s middle belt.

• Environmental push is more important for migrants with rural destinations than urban destinations as they migrate in search for better agro-ecological conditions. Environmental pull is also important: they predominantly settle in areas that have a good balance between soil, rain and (low) population density.

• A cross-sectional analysis of natural resources scarcity and migration propensities shows that out-migration is heavier in poorly endowed districts. Annual rainfall has the strongest correlation with migration propensities (R = -0.67).

• A longitudinal analysis of rainfall and migration, on the other hand, shows that the period of worst environmental stress – during the Sahelian droughts of the late 1970s and early 1980s – was a time of reduced out-migration from Northern Ghana. This period was marked by political turmoil and economic crisis in the South. Thus, factors other than the environment were of greater importance.

• Evidence from semi-structured interviews suggests that families in the North West send family members south to work and send remittances to those remaining in areas where the environment and other factors are less accommodating.

• Environmental migrants in Ghana migrate regionally, not internationally, as these people tend not to have the means to migrate internationally. In contrast, people living in richer areas of Ghana are more likely to migrate internationally.


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Mozambique

Case Study Country/Countries: Mozambique Environmental Issue(s) Addressed: Flooding Case Study Site(s): Central Mozambique - Zambezi River Valley Researcher(s): Marc Stal, UNU-EHS Preliminary Comments and Findings: • In Mozambique, where flooding is a significant environmental concern, field research revealed

complex patterns of migration involving some planned resettlement of people to move them from low lying river areas facing intensifying flood threats.

• Where aid is available, government programs evacuate people to accommodation centres away from flood plains, where large scale flooding endangers human life. The accommodation centres provide basic infrastructure, essential health services and donations of food.

• After resettlement, displaced people face two principle challenges: re-establishing livelihoods and water scarcity. Flood plains are the source of livelihoods for the predominantly agrarian population of the area. Depending on the distance to their fields, some farmers travel daily to their plots; others stay 4-5 days during the week, and some stay there for several months. Mainly young women and men travel from the resettlement centres to work in the fields, leaving children and elderly relatives behind.

• Accommodation centres for farmers from floodplains in Mozambique are often located in drought –prone areas. One resettlement centre resident noted “The main environmental problem in the resettlement centre is drought. We cannot grow anything here. We have to go back to the river to grow crops....After the floods in 2001 a lot of people returned to the river to live there, but after the 2007 flood no one wants to go back. It is safe in the resettlement centre and we travel to the river to do the farming.” Thus a pattern of human movement has emerged in the area linked directly to water.


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Niger

Case Study Country/Countries: Niger Environmental Issue(s) Addressed: Droughts, deforestation, overgrazing, land degradation, Niger

River problems and Lake Chad Drying out Case Study Site(s): Niamey, Tilabéri Researcher(s): Tamer Afifi, UNU-EHS Preliminary Comments and Findings: In Niger, research findings tended to indicate that in areas affected by drought: • fishermen mainly complain about siltation problems where sand creeps into the Niger River, and it

becomes shallower. This siltation hinders or dampens fish reproduction, which has a negative impact on their livelihoods. They also complain about waste that pollutes the river.

• Another problem is the Jacint D’eau plant that covers broad areas of the Niger River surface and hinders the sun from reaching the water, leading hereby again to less fish reproduction and even the death of fish.

• The majority of migrants interviewed for this case study who left for Libya and later returned back to Niger left Niger because they were suffering from droughts and their negative impact on their crops, cattle and hence income. They left there from different villages and regions in Niamey. The reasons why they returned back differ from one case to the other. For most of them, life in Libya did not meet their expectations.

• Within the Ouallem Department of the Tilabéri region, there was a village called Caré where all the inhabitants are migrants of another village called Farka. The reason why they migrated is that in Farka the soil has degraded to the extent that crop production was no longer possible.

• Men will tend to migrate away in search of alternative livelihoods while women, children and the elderly remain in areas of drought. Patterns relating to the length of time men remain away have been changing over the past decades largely due to the fact that the time period between droughts has been decreasing (droughts occurring more frequently).

• Recent patterns observed show that men are now tending to leave for a few years at a time rather than just during the dry season, their absence causes cultural impacts and environmental impacts. Men leaving allows the household to remain in degraded environments which means domestic use of ecological resources can cause further damage.


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Senegal

Case Study Country/Countries: Senegal Environmental Issue(s) Addressed: Desertification, drought and water management Case Study Site(s): Fatick and Kaolack (the Peanut Basin) in Central Senegal and the

Sénégal River Valley in Northern Senegal Researcher(s): Frauke Bleibaum, University of Bielefeld

Research is subcontracted by Thomas Faist and Stefan Alscher of UNIBI - COMCAD

Preliminary Comments and Findings: • Senegal is marked by unfavourable environmental conditions, rural exodus and international

migration (mostly to Spain and Italy—the nearest entry points for Europe). The major pull factors in these migration patterns relate to livelihoods, but preliminary field research indicates strong environmental push factors as well.

• Rural populations are highly exposed to climatic variation and face an agricultural sector marked by monoculture (Peanut), an increasing dependence on world market conditions and prices, and the disengagement of the State in the agricultural domain.

• Rural populations struggle with environmental problems such as lack of rainfall, declining soil fertility, salinisation of the soil as well as lack of farming and pasture land.

• Furthermore, rural people face difficulties in accessing credit or other resources to buy agricultural inputs and also lack the necessary infrastructure for the commercialisation of their harvest.

• In the Sénégal River Valley, where water is usually available (even if no flood recession agriculture is possible due to the construction of dams), the main problems farmers face are the weak soil fertility, its high salt content, which many crops cannot tolerate, and the high costs for the irrigation infrastructure and other inputs.

• In the Peanut Basin, the lack of rainfall is the most persistent; over the last twenty years, in some regions it has declined by 50%. Most farmers can only, if at all, work on their fields during some months of the year.

• Thus, most famers cannot live on agriculture anymore, but need to leave for (seasonal) work to the cities or abroad.

• The possible solutions to the problem of environmental degradation and forced migration lie on different levels: the local production must be protected and promoted, commercialisation infrastructure must be installed, stock-breeding could be promoted in most regions of Senegal, Senegal’s dependence on world market conditions could be decreased by regional economic integration.


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REGION 5: MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

Egypt

Case Study Country/Countries: Egypt Environmental Issue(s) Addressed: Water Shortage Case Study Site(s): Newly reclaimed desert lands (Western Cairo), Cairo slums, Nile

Valley and Nile Delta, Upper Egypt (Southern Egypt). Researcher(s): Tamer Afifi, UNU-EHS Preliminary Comments and Findings: • The relationship between water shortage, desertification, and migration has been inter-generational

until now, occurring over long periods of time. • Land owners resist migrating even if environmental conditions are poor. Sharecroppers and poorer

people are more prone than landowners to migrate when desertification and water-related problems threaten them.

• Most of the migrants interviewed did not mention environmental problems explicitly as a cause for their migration; there are many other factors that intervene such as poverty and unemployment, which are more striking for the interviewees, even if poverty and unemployment are totally or partially caused by environmental degradation.

• There are considerable pull factors that support migration decisions of people who are affected by environmental degradation. For example, the style of life in Cairo, the higher living standards and income in the Gulf countries are strong reasons why people leave their towns/country and travel.

• People would leave their home and move to another place only when there are absolutely no more livelihood possibilities for them, such as in the case of soil scrapping or urbanisation where it is not the individual’s decision but the land owner’s.

• The migrants who leave their villages/regions/the whole country can only do that if they have the financial means to do so. In many cases it is not possible for people to leave since environmental degradation has had a negative impact on their income, thereby creating a vicious circle. Usually, farmers and cattle herders - the category of people that is most affected by environmental problems - belong to poor families and borrowing money for migrating is therefore not a common option.

• Distance does not really play an important role when moving from one place to the other, as long as it is within the country, people have the financial and social means to move and the new places offer them considerably better living conditions.

• Projects that have been established in the Western and Eastern Delta as well as the desert reclamation projects are related to improving the general conditions of the farmers whose livelihoods have worsened in other places/regions. However, there are still improvements required concerning the infrastructure in the Western and Eastern Delta and the salinity in the newly reclaimed desert lands.


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Morocco

Case Study Country/Countries: Morocco Environmental Issue(s) Addressed: Water Shortage and Desertification; and the impact of other

environmental challenges on rural villages in arid areas Case Study Site(s): Desert fringe villages in south-east Morocco: the two most

southern Oases of the Draâ river valley: Mhamid and Tagounite (Province of Zagora)

Researcher(s): Moroccan team under the supervision of Prof. M. Ait Hamza, Director of the Centre des Études Historiques et Environnementales (CEHE) of the Institute Royal de la Culture Amazighe (IRCAM) at Rabat; researchers: M. Aït Hamza & B. El Faskaoui. Research is contracted and coordinated by Alfons Fermin and Han Entzinger of EUR/Erasmus MC

Preliminary Comments and Findings: • There are clear but complex linkages between the environment and migration, which are indicated

from survey data. The effects of the dam construction in the Draa river on downstream villages (water shortage, soil degradation, salinisation, lower levels of basins) and droughts are commonly mentioned motivations for migration.

• However, environmental conditions for agricultural activities have always been poor in the areas flanking the desert (water shortage, rainfall uncertainty, poor and shallow soils, plant (palm) diseases, locust plagues, sand storms). Due to these conditions, in combination with small land plots usually cultivated by rural communities in southern Morocco, agricultural production has customarily been insufficient for earning a living. Adaptation to the circumstances includes a diversification of resources and activities for making a living (spreading of risks): cultivation, cattle, commercial activities, and seasonal migration, and (today) tourism. Strategies differ for the various occupational and ethnic groups.

• The maintenance of traditional agricultural techniques (e.g. irrigation by flooding) and the ancestral system of water rights and the legal statute of water and land are also conditions that hinder modernisation and improvement of living conditions; they reinforce the decline of the environmental situation for agriculture and cattle farming. However, modernisation (tourism and motor pumps) not only offers new possibilities, but acts at the same time as a threat to the environment due to the enormous water demands of oases tourism as well as the lowering of ground water levels due to the spreading and use of motor pumps (for agricultural and personal use). In particular, ‘wealthier’ families can afford such motor pumps, often bought by remittances and money earned from seasonal migration.

• The link between environment and migration is reinforced by different traditions of movement of the different social-ethnic and occupational groups in the hierarchically structured villages: cattle farmers (nomadic tribes), cultivators with plots of land, and at the bottom of the hierarchy: the landless (Draouas, dark skinned) agricultural workers. There are important differences in patterns of migration, of destinations and of utilisation of remittances for the different occupational and socio-ethnic groups in the oases villages. Cultivators with (small) plots of land are most attached to their villages of origin. Migration has become one of the standard possibilities available for earning a living and improving one’s situation: due to the development of a culture of migration in the villages, but also because of the opening up of oases societies (urbanisation, tourism, mass media).

• The traditional migration pattern was and is that some family members (men only) leave their village temporarily and send remittances to those who stay behind (women, children, (returned) old men). However permanent migration of families is occurring more often nowadays. Migration from the villages where research was conducted is primarily internal, especially to the main Moroccan cities.


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Western Sahara

Case Study Country/Countries: Western Sahara Environmental Issue(s) Addressed: Desertification and Water Shortage Case Study Site(s): Algeria: Interviews with refugees from Western Sahara in refugee

camps in Algeria (Tindouf region) under the control of the Frente Polisario government-in-exile

Researcher(s): Anna Ugalde (environmental issues); Oscar Alvarez (migration); Alberto Angulo (historical overview); Matteo Manfredi (field research in Western Sahara and Tindouf; and in Spain); Neida Jimenez (subcontracted: field research in Spain).

Preliminary Comments and Findings: • Western Sahara has been under Moroccan rule since 1975, but only a few countries recognise

Morocco’s sovereignty over this former Spanish colony. This special (disputed) political situation has created two complexities (or difficulties) in conducting the case study research:

- The internationally contested status of this region has made it difficult to conduct field research in the source area of migrants. Therefore field research has been conducted in receiving areas: refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria and with migrants in Spain.

- The political situation is of course a main explanation for the migration flows and is also identifed by the migrants themselves. However this migration motive may conceal other factors for migration, among them the environmental situation as a possible cause for migration. In other words, Western Saharans that fled see themselves as political refugees and they do not want to be called “ordinary” migrants. Still, they are not officially recognised internationally as refugees, although they have special recognition by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Despite these complexities, hypotheses can be formulated based on initial field and desk research: • Even though it is not explicitly expressed by Western Saharan migrants, environmental issues seem

to play a role in their decision to move away. However the weight given to political matters exceeds the economical or environmental reasons for migration. If environmental reasons are mentioned, they are usually linked to political ones. For instance, Saharan government officers-in-exile who were interviewed emphasised that the relocation and repopulation policies implemented by Morocco resulted in a worsening of environmental conditions in the region.

• Western Saharans (Sahrawis) enjoy some level of international protection and aid. These conditions of aid are favourable for enabling the possibility to migrate and to assist Sahrawis to re-establish their lives abroad successfully, especially in Spain (due to former colonial links).

• There appears to be a policy of circular migration directed and determined by the Polisario government in exile. This involves temporary resettlement of Sahrawis from the Tindouf area and the small part of the Western Sahara behind the ‘defence wall’ to Algeria, Cuba, Spain and Italy and then return after some years. This temporary ‘resettlement’, is assisted by the government of Algeria and Cuba, and by NGOs in Spain and Italy. When the Sahrawis themselves are asked for the motives behind this circular migration policy, they indicated it is motivated by environmental reasons: to diminish the population pressure on the scarce resources in desert areas and to prevent the spreading of diseases that ‘thrive’ under extreme climate circumstances in the eastern part of the Western Sahara and the Tindouf region. Environmental problems may act as a second-level stimulus to migrate, in addition to the political and economic causes for migration.

• There is substantial migration of Moroccans towards Western Sahara. Some of the Western Sahara government officials-in-exile say that this migration is supported by the Moroccan government with the aim of transforming the region into a ‘real’ Moroccan area.


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REGION 6: LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN

Argentina

Case Study Country/Countries: Argentina Environmental Issue(s) Addressed: (a) Floods, increase of rain - water excesses with periods of

abnormal droughts (b) Droughts - decrease of water availability, melting of glaciers. (c) Droughts - decrease of water availability.

Case Study Site(s): (a) Pampa Arenosa and Depresión del Salado northwest of the Province of Buenos Aires (b) Pre-Andean region (Comahue and the city of Jáchal, San Juan) (c) Yungas in the Salta Province

Researcher(s): Marcelino Irianni, María Celia García, Ana Fernandez, Guillermo Velázquez (UNICEN, Argentina) Research is subcontracted by Oscar Alvarez, UPV-EHU

Preliminary Comments and Findings: Case Study Site (a) – Pampa Arenosa and Depresión del Salado • During the last few decades annual average rainfall in the region has been increasing. The

geological conditions of the "pampa arenosa" (Sandy Pampa) present a low level of capacity for natural drainage of the excess of water, so in recent years floods have been increasing both in number and in intensity. As the economy of "partido de Bolívar" (whose capital is the city of San Carlos de Bolivar) is mainly based on agriculture and livestock, most of the farmers have been affected by the effects of floods, eroding the economic base of their and their families’ livelihoods.

• In a first stage, large numbers of inhabitants that once lived in the rural areas of the partido de Bolívar have migrated to the city nearby, San Carlos. They migrated looking for employment which was not directly linked to agriculture or livestock. At the same time there have also been other migration flows, from the city of San Carlos itself to other major cities within Argentina. For example, to Buenos Aires -a city that attracts 3 of every 5 internal migrants in the country as well as to other medium sized cities such as Tandil and Olavarría.

• In this case study, a strong association between floods and migration only exists in terms of short-distance internal (as opposed to international) migration, usually within a ‘partido’, for example from the entire rural areas of Partido de Bolivar to the city of San Carlos de Bolivar (the only urban centre of the Partido). A "partido" is a lower level of administrative division of Argentinean territory and is usually composed of a city and its hinterland.

• It has been more difficult to establish links between environment and migration in other longer distance internal migration (for example, to Buenos Aires) and international migration flows. Research has indicated that as one increases the scale in terms of distance people move, e.g. long-distance internal migration and international migration (mostly to Europe), the links between environment and migration are not so clear. Other factors, especially economic reasons, seem to be stronger factors when people decide to migrate; it seems that environment is not perceived as a direct cause of migration, even among those that have been affected by floods or similar events.

• Direct international migration is almost insignificant, so it seems we are confronted with a "delayed migration" situation. In the case of Argentina, people affected by environmental problems are first migrating to Buenos Aires, Rosario and Cordoba and then secondly to urban areas within the country as the case of San Carlos de Bolivar shows, but these urban areas also have some of their previous inhabitants migrating abroad.

Case Study Site (b) – Pre-Andean region (Comahue, in Patagonia region; and the city of Jáchal, San Juan, region of Cuyo)


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• The main environmental issue in these regions around the Anden mountains is linked to the decrease of ice in the Andes that will have a negative impact on: a) on the provision of irrigation water for agriculture and human consumption (rivers will carry less water); b) the increase of the risk of fires in times of droughts.

• This case study is focused in the city of Jáchal (region of Cuyo), and in the region of Patagonia. In the last decade there has been a dramatic decrease in the rainfall average, along with unusual variability in rainfall patterns (there has also been intense rains causing floods). Some state agencies have measured losses due to the water deficit: less production of electricity, less production in the wineries of San Juan and Mendoza (the main wine regions of the country). Even tourism has been affected since this area is one of the most important resorts for winter sports in South America; variability in snowfalls has caused damages in the income from tourism. Environmental changes have damaged both the conditions of habitability and the economic base of the area.

• Figures on migratory movements in this area show a change in migration patterns over the past decade: this area was an area of net in-migration - the only in the country, along with the metropolitan region of Buenos Aires - until the decade of 1980. Currently the area is witnessing a loss of population. The reasons adduced by migrants indicate economic factors as the cause, but behind economic problems we can find the effects of environmental changes.

• In the cities (the case of Jáchal) pollution compounds upon the impacts of other kinds of environmental problems. Jáchal's inhabitants suffer because of polluted and decreasing water supply. Among the consequences of these problems, increase of diseases and migration are mentioned. As the city is located in a place of very low rainfall average, it is very much dependent upon underground water for both residential and productive uses. A nearby mine, Veladero, is supposedly causing strong pollution of the spring fields used by the population of Jáchal. The lack of available water has produced a loss in the value of farms, and the consequent difficulties for small producers to keep on producing and to obtain loans and, thus, to continue earning a living from their farms, migration is the next step (Buenos Aires is the main destination).

Case Study Site (c) – Salta Province • This case study is still in process and the links between environmental problems and migration are

currently being drawn out but the aim of this study is to analyse the following situation: • Most of the people that migrate from this region, usually small-scale farmers and agricultural

labourers, were involved in the expansion of soybean plantations. These plantations are ruln by huge national or even transnational companies that are rapidly buying up or renting land and are a) consuming a lot of water – placing increasing pressure on small-scale farmers that do not have enough water for their farms; and, b) protected by state politics that favor the increase of soybean crops for export. Over the last decade, soybean has become the most important export of Argentina. While the expansion of soybean is not an environmental problem itself (een though there are some environmental concerns as the use of transgenics and the risks linked to extensive monoculture), the increase of soybean production is driven by the increase of global markets. Its impact is inflate by the growing demand for biofuels in order to reduce the impact of climate change. As these crops advance into fragile ecosystems and are producing deforestation, they are also creating a huge impact on the environment, and also destroying the habitat and economic resources of populations that are forced to migrate.


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Dominican Republic/Haiti

Case Study Country/Countries: Dominican Republic (D.R.), Haiti Environmental Issue(s) Addressed: Deforestation (and its consequences during tropical storms) Case Study Site(s): Province of Independencia, D.R.; Port-au-Prince, Haiti Researcher(s): Stefan Alscher, UNIBI - COMCAD;

Yuner Cuevas, La Descubierta, Dominican Repbulic (conducted questionnaires in Dominican Republic) Jean-Jacques Luxon, NGO OPEMUSEDH ("organisation pour la promotion multisectorielle de l'excellence pour le development et education en Haiti") (conducted questionnaire in Haiti)

Preliminary Comments and Findings: • There is a very complex situation in the border region of Haiti and the Dominican Republic (D.R.)

where emigrants from the countryside in the Dominican Republic (migrating to urban centres within D.R. and internationally, mainly to Spain) lend their land to Haitian immigrants. Villagers remaining in the Dominican Republic border villages accuse the Haitian immigrants of committing the same errors as in Haiti, i.e. cutting and burning trees to get fertile land for a short period without thinking of the long-term consequences such as soil erosion.

• The fact is that the Dominican Republic landowners profit from lending their lands to Haitians which they do normally on a 50-50 basis according to the earnings from the harvest; Haitian immigrants are used as scapegoats. But it is also a fact that deforestation has negative impacts for the region as the risk of landslides increases during the hurricane season with the onset of heavy rains.

• In the D.R., decreasing quality of soils, together with governmental negligence of rural areas, proves to be a push-factor for migration processes. This is also backed by the questionnaires and the qualitative interviews.

• The qualitative interviews conducted in Haiti reflect the main environmental problems: unfertile lands as a result of deforestation and soil erosion, floods during the rainfall season and high vulnerability to the path of hurricanes and other tropical storms.

• While political measures in the D.R. have led to partial reforestation of formerly lost forest areas; planned reforestation programmes have failed, mainly due to the economic necessities of the rural population suffering extreme poverty and undernourishment.


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Ecuador

Case Study Country/Countries: Ecuador Environmental Issue(s) Addressed: * Water quality and availability; soil degradation

* Climate issues (ENSO and its consequences) Case Study Site(s): Guayas, El Oro, Pichincha, Manabi, Imbabura, Bolívar,

Tunguruha, Azuay eta Quevedo provinces Researcher(s): Ana Ugalde Zaratiegui (environmental issues), UPV-EHU

Alberto Angulo Morales (historical aspects), UPV-EHU Oscar Alvarez Gila (migration), UPV-EHU Matteo Manfredi (fieldwork), UPV-EHU Virginia López de Maturana Diéguez (migration; fieldwork), UPV-EHU

Preliminary Comments and Findings: • Migration from Ecuador to neighbouring countries and the United States has been occurring over

several decades; however migration towards Europe is a relatively new phenomenon. Migration towards Europe only began a decade and a half ago, but Europe has now become the main destination of Ecuadorean migrants.

• Ecuadorians who migrate internationally come from two main geographical areas: the coastal region and the Andean region, each of them with different environmental issues related to emigration.

• In the Andean region, the main environmental issue linked to migration is reduced water quality and quantity (for both domestic and agricultural purposes). In addition problems connected to deforestation and erosion are also linked to migration. These problems combined lead to a diminishing of the quantity, quality and stability of crops, and thus to an increase of outward migration flows. The main destinations of these migrants are, first of all, internal locations and secondarily, international. Internal destinations include migration towards urban regions, such as Quito or Guayaquil, which have been traditional destination sites for immigrants; and migration towards Amazonia, an area which has long been sparsely populated but where the government is encouraging people to settle due to the economic interest and potential of the area e.g. petroleum was discovered there in the late 1970s.

• In the coastal region, climate related issues, principally the effect of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO; also known as El Niño), seem to be the most powerful environmental factor to affect migration. Variations induced by ENSO, particularly changes in the normal patterns of rainfall leading to extreme events (droughts and sudden floods) seem to be one of the constituents of annual variations in migratory flows. For example, the last ENSO variation of 1997 led to drought conditions which appear to be clearly linked to a remarkable growth of emigration figures in the following year. Previous environmental processes such as deforestation create vulnerable environments such that when extreme weather events occur they have a stronger effect.

• The Otavalo region is one of the most active source areas of Ecuadorians who migrate to Europe. This region has pollution problems linked to air and soil contamination caused by mining activities. One of the conclusions is that immigrants coming from urban areas in Ecuador are more likely to accept and present environmental degradation as one of the factors involved in their decision to migrate.


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Mexico

Case Study Country/Countries: Mexico Environmental Issue(s) Addressed: (a) Tropical Storms; Landslides, Flooding

(b) Desertification; Soil Degradation Case Study Site(s): (a) Soconusco/Chiapas, South-eastern Mexico

(b) Western Tlaxcala (approx 60km east of Mexico City)

Researcher(s): Stefan Alscher, UNIBI – COMCAD Sara Hernández Herrera, Tapachula/Chiapas, Mexico (subcontractor - conducted questionnaires in Chiapas field study)

Preliminary Comments and Findings: Case Study Site (a) – Chiapas • The intensity of tropical storms has resulted in devastating impacts on regional agriculture which is

mainly based on the production of coffee. • Many villagers have left their communities as their fields (and, in many cases, also their homes)

have been washed away. Other villagers are seriously thinking of leaving soon. • Emigration from Chiapas is a relatively new phenomenon which accelerated in the 1990s and is

mainly caused by the crisis of Mexican agriculture in the context of free trade policies. • Tropical storms/hurricanes like Mitch and Stan also had the effect that those who already had plans

to emigrate some years in the future, instead decided to leave much earlier. • Furthermore, uncontrolled deforestation in some parts of the mountain regions of Soconusco

aggravated the risk of landslides during tropical storm events. • There is unequal treatment by the Mexican government regarding disasters in different regions.

While there was a quick response and abundant financial support in the tourist region of the Riviera Maya (Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Cozumel etc.) following Hurricane Wilma in October 2005, there was no or only sparse help in poor rural areas of Chiapas following Hurricane Stan which occurred 2 weeks earlier, also in October 2005. Reconstruction of the tourist industry in the Mexican Caribbean seems to be of higher importance than helping affected farmers in rural Chiapas.

Case Study Site (b) – Western Tlaxcala • In Tlaxcala emigration has been a relatively recent phenomenon, starting in the 1980s. • Intensive agricultural exploitation of soils has led to extreme soil erosion in some areas of the state.

Farmers have abandoned traditional and sustainable methods of agriculture since external advisors have proposed more intensive use of the lands, introducing more chemicals and so forth.

• In many cases, bad soil conditions have led to the situation that productivity has declined. In addition, rainfall periods are changing – now starting later than in former times, this has negative impacts on regional agriculture.

• Bad soil conditions and/or changing rainfall periods lead to lower productivity, resulting in lower incomes for the farmers. As an adaptation strategy there is diversification of income sources; above all, young people opt to work in sectors other than agriculture or decide to migrate (internally or internationally).


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ATTACHMENT A

ENVIRONMENTALLY DISPLACED PERSONS: WORKING DEFINITIONS FOR THE EACH-FOR PROJECT*

Olivia Dun (a), François Gemenne (b), Robert Stojanov(c)

11 October 2007

(a) United Nations University, Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), Bonn, Germany; School of Geosciences, University of Sydney, Australia

(b) Centre d'Etudes de l'Ethnicité et des Migrations (CEDEM), Université de Li`ege, Belgium; Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales (CERI), Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, France

(a) Independent Researcher for the EACH-FOR Project, based in Ostrava, Czech Republic Acknowledgements: Thank you to the participants of the Environmental Migration Theory seminar, held during the International Conference on Migration and Development in Ostrava, Czech Republic on 5 September 2007, for providing valuable input regarding the definitions in this document.

ENVIRONMENTALLY DISPLACED PERSONS Recognising that there is much debate within the international community about the definition of the term “environmental refugee (migrant)”, for the purposes of the EACH-FOR project, the collective term Environmentally Displaced Persons (EDPs) will be used and would apply to people who would fall into one of the following three categories: 1. Environmental migrants 2. Environmental displacees 3. Development displacees The common element between people falling within all three categories is that:

• their main reason for departure or flight from their usual place of residence is a situation of objective environmental degradation or change. This factor can be mingled with other factors e.g. social, economic or political factors; however, environmental factors need to be identified, by those moving, as one of the main forces

• their displacement may be temporary (short or long-term) or permanent1 • no distinction is made as to whether or not the persons migrating or fleeing have crossed

an international border The core distinction between the first category (environmental migrants) and the last two categories (environmental displaces and development displaces) is the element of voluntary versus forced migration. The main distinction between the last two categories is whether or not the event/situation forcing the displacement is planned. These three categories are described in greater detail below. * The Environmental Change and Forced Migration Scenarios (EACH-FOR) Project is a research project funded under the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) (Priority [8.1] - Policy-oriented research) of the European Commission. 1 We consider temporary displacement to be either short-term (up to a maximum of 1 year) or long-term (1-3 years). We consider permanent displacement to be situations in which people are never able to return to their former place of residence or have been displaced for a period of 3 years or more even though eventual return may still be possible.


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Environmental Migrants Definition: Environmental migrants are people who chose to move voluntarily from their usual place of residence primarily due to environmental concerns or reasons. Interpretation: This category covers people who are motivated to move because, in their mind, environmental factors (e.g. natural disasters, slow-onset land degradation, sea-level rise) are one of the foremost reasons for leaving their usual place of residence. This type of migration is pro-active, and can also be viewed as a coping strategy. However, ‘amenity migrants’2, who also move voluntarily, are not included in this category. Comments: Despite this category emphasising that the environmental degradation or change is the dominant reason for migration, it is important to also recognise the environmental dimension in other causes of migration e.g. politically motivated or economically motivated migration since environmental factors often underlie and accumulate into social, economic and political stressors. Environmental Displacees Definition: Environmental displacees are people who are forced to leave their usual place of residence, because their lives, livelihoods and welfare have been placed at serious risk as a result of adverse environmental processes and events (natural and/or triggered by people).”3 Interpretation: This category of people accounts for people who are displaced by both slow onset and rapid onset environmental process and events e.g. natural disasters, land degradation and sea-level rise. Their departure or flight from their usual place of residence is forced4 due to a rapidly or slowly deteriorating environment. Comment: This category has merged the two definitions of “environmentally forced migrants” and “environmental refugees” proposed by Renaud 2007 et al5 as essentially these two categories are similar with the only difference being the swiftness with which people are forced to move. We have been able to account for this difference in swiftness within this one new definition.6 Development Displacees Definition: Development displacees are people who are intentionally relocated or resettled due to a planned land use change. Interpretation: This type of displacement includes people who are displaced by intentional land use changes e.g. development projects such as dam construction, transport infrastructure development, as well as nature/wildlife conservation projects 2 Individuals who may depart their usual place of residence due to it “subjectively feeling unpleasant” (cold, rainy, etc.). While, for amenity migrants, the ambient environment is a consideration in the decision to move, it is not evaluated as an environmental change or degradation. 3 This definition is a very close adaptation of a definition proposed by Jeff Crisp, Special Advisor on Policy and Evaluation, UNHCR (source: Gorlick, B. 2007. Environmentally Displaced Persons: A UNHCR Perspective. Presentation given at “Environmental Refugees: the Forgotten Migrants” Discussion Event,UN Headquarter, New York, 16 May 2007. http://www.ony.unu.edu/16May2007.html). 4 The assumption is that the people facing a situation of environmental change or degradation are people who do not want to be displaced or migrate away from their usual place of residence but often are faced with no choice but to depart whether it be a sudden unplanned departure or a gradual organised departure. 5 Renaud, F.G.; Bogardi, J.J.; Dun, O.; Warner, K. (2007): Control, Adapt or Flee: How to Face Environmental Migration? InterSecTions no. 5/2007, United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security, Bonn. 6 Among the three categories proposed in this document, the category of environmental displacee is nearest to the term “environmental refugee” which is more commonly found in the academic literature and defined by people such as El-Hinnawi (1985), Jacobson (1988) and Myers (1993).


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Comment: This category matches with what is commonly termed ‘development-induced population displacement’ in the existing literature. Development Displacees are people forced to relocate and resettle due to the implementation of a development project or policy, usually – but not always – in developing countries. This third category of development displacees differs significantly from the above two categories of environmental migrants. This is due to the fact that when a person is displaced by a development project, the displacement of people is planned and intended and there is a legally liable entity for indemnification of the displaced. As such the issues surrounding assistance, relocation and protection of such displacees differ greatly from the issues surrounding displacement of the previous two definitions since displacement of environmental migrants and environmental displaces is unplanned and unintended. It is therefore pertinent to include this third category of definition within the scope of the EACH-FOR project, as development projects commonly involve environmental change or degradation at a particular locality to an extent that the population in that locality can no longer reside in their usual place of residence. ______________________________________ Explanatory Note In considering whether or not to use the term “environmental refugee” in our categorisation of Environmentally Displaced Persons, we made a decision not to use the term due to the following reasons:

• the term refugee already has a very specific legal meaning in international law, we do not wish to detract from this

• the term refugee has very specific policy implications and at this stage we wish to remain academically focused by providing more descriptive categories linked to the cause of migration/displacement as opposed to considering the possible consequences in response to the event of migration/displacement (e.g. policy implications of whether or not humanitarian aid or protection is required).

• the term refugee has political connotations and is frequently used by refugee lobby groups and anti-refugee lobby groups to apply targeted pressure on governments

• we do not distinguish whether or not EDPs cross an international border, which is one of the most important conditions in the case of refugees.

preliminary findings from the each-for ... - wordpress.com...3. why are people migrating? 4. how...

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