MPI's Migration Information Source Newsletter

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June 3, 2020

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Feature
Climate Change, Displacement, and Managed Retreat in Coastal India
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/climate-change-displacement-managed-retreat-india
Coastal communities in India are confronting the effects of sea-level rise, erosion, flooding, and cyclones. This article examines displacement and migration from Odisha, the Sundarbans delta, and Majuli island in the state of Assam, examining national and state responses and the principles that could inform the design of policies to address displacement due to climate-related hazards.

Spotlight
Immigrant Health-Care Workers in the United States
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/immigrant-health-care-workers-united-states
Immigrants make up a disproportionately high number of U.S. health-care workers, from doctors and nurses to home health aides. In 2018, more than 2.6 million immigrants worked in the U.S. health-care field. In the face of the coronavirus pandemic, immigrants have played a key role in the frontline response. This article explores the demographics of this group of essential workers by occupation, origin, language, education, and more.
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EDITOR'S NOTE

After weeks of being stranded at sea under life-threatening conditions, more than 300 Rohingya refugees were relocated in May by the Bangladeshi government to a remote, flood-prone island in the Bay of Bengal, despite protests from humanitarian organizations. The group earlier had been turned away from docking by authorities in Malaysia, which is the hoped-for destination for countless Rohingya living in difficult conditions in refugee camps in Bangladesh or facing persecution in Myanmar.

With a total surface area of 15 square miles, the previously uninhabited island of Bhasan Char was formed just 20 years ago as a result of shifting tides and silt deposits in the Bay of Bengal. While formally a part of Bangladesh, the island is 30 kilometers from the mainland and takes three hours to travel there by boat. Prone to cyclones and heavy monsoons, about 60 percent of the island is often submerged during the rainy season. After visiting the island in January 2019, the United Nations special rapporteur on Myanmar expressed doubts over whether Bhasan Char was "truly habitable" and has since not confirmed whether the island has the shelter and aid resources necessary to sustain a refugee population. Just days after the Rohingyas' arrival, they were moved to storm shelters on the island as Cyclone Amphan was poised to batter Indian and Bangladeshi coastal areas.

While the Bangladesh government cited coronavirus concerns as the reason for sending the Rohingya to the island, plans have been in the works since 2017 to relocate up to 100,000 refugees from mainland refugee camps to Bhasan Char. The Cox's Bazar refugee camp in southern Bangladesh is the largest such camp in the world, hosting more than 1 million Rohingya. The majority fled Myanmar in 2017 after enduring brutal military-led violence, categorized by the UN as genocide. Extreme overcrowding (at about 40,000 people per square kilometer), drug trafficking, and increasing levels of violence in the camps are among the reasons that Bangladeshi government officials began preparing Bhasan Char for habitation several years ago.

After $280 million dollars in infrastructure, built by a Chinese construction company, Bhasan Char now features housing structures for more than 90,000 people, 120 cyclone shelters, warehouses to store food and other supplies, and a 13-kilometer flood-defense embankment. Amid concerns over the lack of health care, the risk of natural disasters, and further distance from Myanmar, most refugees in Cox's Bazaar are "staunchly opposed" to relocation.

However, Bhashan Char at present appears to be the only lifeline for Rohingya stranded at sea in appalling conditions, with reports of overcrowding and bodies thrown overboard. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees is urging Australia and Indonesia, which are co-chairs of the Bali Process anti-human-trafficking forum, to activate discussions between member states over a possible solution. Australia is cool to the idea, arguing the Bali Process is not the vehicle for triggering operational responses to a refugee crisis. With other boats crowded with Rohingya setting off before this most recent small flotilla, it's sure others will take to the waters again, with or without a policy solution.

Best regards,

Editor, Migration Information Source

[email protected]

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NEW FROM MPI

COVID-19 and Unemployment: Assessing the Early Fallout for Immigrants and Other U.S. Workers
www.migrationpolicy.org/research/covid-19-unemployment-immigrants-other-us-workers
By Randy Capps, Jeanne Batalova, and Julia Gelatt

DATA TOOL: Tracing Changing U.S. Unemployment Pre-Pandemic & Now by Industry & Demographic Group
[link removed]

European Cities on the Front Line: New and Emerging Governance Models for Migrant Inclusion
www.migrationpolicy.org/research/european-cities-governance-migrant-inclusion
By Liam Patuzzi

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HAVE YOU READ

International Students in the United States
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/international-students-united-states

Maid in Hong Kong: Protecting Foreign Domestic Workers
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/maid-hong-kong-protecting-foreign-domestic-workers

Protection and Reintegration: Mexico Reforms Migration Agenda in an Increasingly Complex Era
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/protection-and-reintegration-mexico-reforms-migration-agenda

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