Bogumil Terminski Environmentally-Induced Displacement ... - Cedem

induced displacement in various regions of the world.Africa remains the continent with by far one of the largest number ofenvironmental forced migrants worldwide. The main causes of environmentaldisplacement are land degradation and desertification, much less the naturaldisasters. Millions of potential displacees now live in the African Sahel region,where they escape from the northern areas as a result of drought and lack ofaccess to drinking water. Many economically motivated migrations are defacto determined by worsening environmental conditions (North-SouthMigrations in Ghana). Currently, nearly 10 million people in the Sahel regionare at risk of hunger. 95 Tremendous problems surrounding water shortages andhunger are visible in the current territories of the Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia,and Kenya. In Nigeria, the rising levels of the Atlantic Ocean and the floodingof coastal islands present a major predicament. It is estimated that an increaseof only 20 centimetres in the water level could deprive nearly eight hundredthousand inhabitants of their homes in this country. 96 In many countries of thecontinent, the steady decline of soil quality towards barrenness anddesertification is problematic. The desertification problem covers the whole ofNorth Africa and many areas in other parts of the continent (such asMadagascar). Africa is highly affected by flood. According to NorwegianRefugee Council (2010, 2011) after 2008 we have witnessed at least 10 majorfloods in the region (mostly in Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Benin) 97 .Environmental displacement in Asia is determined by both gradualenvironmental processes, the consequences of human activities and natural95The Sahel area repeatedly fell victim to great drought and famine. Lasting from the late sixties to mid eighties,catastrophic drought in the countries of that region led to the death by starvation of over a half million people; cfC. Legum, Africa contemporary record. Annual survey and documents, vol. 17, 1988, p. 95; R.A. Bryson, T.JMurray, Climates of Hunger. Mankind & The World’s Changing Weather, 1979, p. 95.96T. Odumosu, W. Atere, F. Adewunmi, Social problems and social work in Nigeria, 2000, p. 202; A. Osuntokun,Environmental problems in Nigeria. With special emphasis on northern Nigeria, 1999, p. 6.97See M. Yenotani, Displacement due to Natural Hazard-Induced Disasters.Global Estimates for 2009 and2010, IDMC & NRC, Oslo, 2011; Monitoring disaster displacement in the context of climate change. Findingsof a study by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the InternalDisplacement Monitoring Centre, OCHA, IDMC, NRC, Oslo-Geneva, June 2010.