Tides of Change: Understanding ClimateInduced Migration in Bangladesh’s Coastal Regions

Bangladesh faces several climatic hazards/disasters due to its geographical location. The country suffers from natural disasters regularly, resulting in the loss of human life and livelihoods and the forced migration of people or whole communities to nearby areas. Research was conducted in the three coastal districts: Barguna, Patuakhali, and Cox's Bazar with the following goals: 1. To identify the causes of coastal climate-induced displacement; and 2. To identify the socioeconomic elements that contribute to forced migration. 3. Determine probable areas of Bangladeshi coastal relocation due to climate change. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods is used for the study. Primary data was collected from the Household Questionnaire Survey, Focus Group Discussion (FGD), and Key Informant Interview (KII) with relevant people and institutions. In addition, secondary data and relevant policies, documents, and books were reviewed from different sources. The study findings reveal that frequent cyclones, flooding, erosion, loss of land, and crop production are the primary causes of climate displacement in coastal areas. Internal migration and external migration are both common situations found in the three coastal districts. Increasing temperatures, drought, and losing crops in the Varendra regions are the leading causes of internal migration. The paper reveals that the coastal region of Patuakhali has the highest displacement threat, where ~39.6% of the people said that they would be interested in migrating immediately.