Human security of urban migrant populations affected by length of residence and environmental hazards
| DOI | 10.1177/0022343320973717 |
| Date | 01 January 2021 |
| Published date | 01 January 2021 |
| Subject Matter | Regular Articles |
Human security of urban migrant
populations affected by length of residence
and environmental hazards
W Neil Adger
Geography, College of Life and
Environmental Sciences,
University of Exeter
Ricardo Safra de Campos
Global Systems Institute,
University of Exeter
Tasneem Siddiqui
Department of Political Science,
University of Dhaka
Maria Franco Gavonel
Geography, College of Life and
Environmental Sciences,
University of Exeter
Lucy Szaboova
European Centre for Environment and
Human Health, University of Exeter
Mahmudol Hassan Rocky
Refugee and Migratory Movements
Research Unit, University of Dhaka
Mohammad Rashed Alam
Bhuiyan
Department of Political Science,
University of Dhaka
Tamim Billah
Refugee and Migratory Movements
Research Unit, University of Dhaka
Abstract
It is widely suggested that migrationis a key mechanism linking climate change to violent conflict, particularly through
migration increasing the risks of conflict in urban destinations. Yet climate change also creates new forms of insecurity
through distress migration, immobility and vulnerability that are prevalent in urban destination locations. Here we
examine the extent and nature of human security in migration destinations and test whether insecurity is affected by
length of residence and environmental hazards.The study develops an index measure of human securityat the individual
level to includeenvironmental andclimate-related hazardsas well as sources of well-being, fear of crimeand violence, and
mental health outcomes. It examines the elements of human security that explain the prevalence of insecurity among
recentand established migrantsin low-incomeurban neighbourhoods.The study reportson data collected in Chattogram
in Bangladesh through a survey of migrants (N ¼447) and from qualitative data derived using photo elicitation
techniques with cohorts of city planners and migrants. The results show that environmental hazards represent an
increasing source of perceived insecurity to migrantpopulations over time, withlonger-term migrants perceiving greater
insecurity than more recent arrivals, suggesting lack of upward social mobility in low-income slums. Ill-health, fear of
eviction, and harassment and violence are key elements of how insecurity is experienced, and these are exacerbated by
environmental hazards such as flooding. The study expands the concept of security to encompass central elements of
personal risk and well-being and outlines the implications for climate change.
Keywords
Bangladesh, climate change, human security index, migration, photovoice, social mobility, urbanization
Climate change, migration and conflict
A significant critique of climate and conflict research
relates to the underspecification and conceptualization
of widespread, pernicious, and sometimes hidden
impacts of climate change on life, livelihood, sense of
place and identity beyond the threat of violence (Tscha-
kert et al., 2017; Barnett, 2019). Propositions on the
Corresponding author:
n.adger@exeter.ac.uk
Journal of Peace Research
2021, Vol. 58(1) 50–66
ªThe Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/0022343320973717
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mechanisms by which climate change may induce vio-
lencehaveincludedthedisplacement of populations
through weather-related disasters or inundation of set-
tlements, leading to breakdown of social order or ethnic
divisions in places where displaced people seek refuge
(Burrows & Kinney, 2016). Yet it is well established that
the majority of migration flows do not necessarily create
conditions for conflict and insecurity (Raleigh & Jordan,
2010).
Contemporary dominant migration flows are not
associated with conflict risk. Global migration flows
remain dominated, in absolute terms, by movement
from rural areas to well-established urban destinations
within countries. Such movements, concentrated in Asia
and Africa, also drive the urbanization trend in those
regions. Are such regular migration flows currently or
potentially in the future affected by climate change?
Clearly, increases in weather-related extreme events
cause mass displacement every year – with estimates of
over 20 million people displaced per year averaged over
the past decade (ICRC, 2018). But this is predominantly
temporary displacement, and those evacuated or dis-
placed from their places of residence and communities
due to storms, drought, floods and wildfires are not a
principal source of organized violence. Longer-term
migration is, in effect, an effective adaptation to declin-
ing attractiveness or uncertain futures in specific loca-
tions, but sometimes with significant costs to individuals
in terms of moving (Adams & Kay, 2019; Henderson,
Storeygard & Deichmann, 2017). It is also well docu-
mented that migrants in many destination cities globally
are forced to cluster in neighbourhoods characterized by
insecure tenure, high rents, poor access to services and
labour markets, and disproportionate exposure to envi-
ronmental hazards, such as flooding or landslides
(Tacoli, McGranahan & Satterthwaite, 2015).
But does movement to cities in itself lead to increased
violent conflict risk? Buhaug & Urdal (2013) find that
observed conflict in growing cities is not associated with
population growth and high population densities in 55
African and Asian cities that have experienced such
growth, driven by migration. Petrova (2021) shows that
urban migrants displaced from rural areas in Bangladesh
are not more likely to be involved in protest and conflict,
while Koubi et al (2021) suggest that migrants displaced
by weather-related disasters in Kenya engage more in
pro-social advocacy and engage in social movements.
Cities are, of course, net importers of food. And food
prices and food insecurity are widely observed elements
of political unrest and conflict in cities. Hendrix & Hag-
gard (2015) and Berazneva & Lee (2013) show that
global food prices transmit into localized violence in
cities, but the patterns of violence depend on the relative
support of rural economies and urban consumers during
such food crises. In essence, then, there appear to be only
marginal and indirect causal links between migration and
organized violence in urban centres in expanding cities in
the global South.
Climate change will, however, create new forms of
vulnerability, distress migration and immobility. There
is, we argue, a case for expanding the conceptual focus of
research on climate change and its human impacts to
include holistic experiences of insecurity to include
everyday social exclusion and precarity: these are repre-
sented in the theories and measurement of human secu-
rity. This study, therefore, describes human security in
urban settings of rapidly growing cities as a set of eco-
nomic, social and environmental dimensions. It develops
a new Human Security Index at the individual level
incorporating these dimensions and examines whether
length of residence in destination areas explains the pre-
valence of insecurity, through phenomena such as hous-
ing tenure and exposure to health impacts of water and
environmental hazards. The following section introduces
the proposed elements of a Human Security Index. The
study examines the human security of new migrant
populations in Chattogram city in Bangladesh, with
results reported from survey and data generated through
in-depth visual methods. The results show that environ-
mental hazards represent an increasing source of insecur-
ity to migrant populations over time, and that these are
manifest in perceptions of ill-health and mental health
status. Environmental hazards in cities are likely to rep-
resent an important mechanism for continued insecurity
in cities under climate change.
Individual-scale human security
Measuring human security
The proposition here is that human secur ity captures
holistic elements of risk that affect well-being and mean-
ingful lives, over and above the specific risk of organized
violence. To do so, it is necessary to describe the vital
core of human lives in measurable and meaningful
dimensions. The term ‘human security’ was elaborated
and formalized in the UN Commission for Human
Security, and adopted principally as a counterpoint to
state, national and territorial conceptualizations of secu-
rity (Gasper, 2010). Most definitions of human security
emphasize a set of necessary conditions: protection of
individuals and their basic human rights and freedoms,
access to material well-being, equality and freedom from
Adger et al. 51
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