Caught Between Climate and Virus Threats, Migrants Have No Safe Place to Go

In a new report, Climate Action Network South Asia and ActionAid find Afghans are increasingly being displaced more by climate change than conflict. Weather-related displacements affected 1.2 million Afghans in 2019. One such is Ali Mohamed, a 50-year old farmer who lost his sheep to drought, then the following year, lost his son, two daughters and home in a flood. Now those displaced also contend with the coronavirus, with Afghanistan registering more than 3,600 cases and 100 deaths from COVID-19. With low levels of testing, experts believe the infection rates are likely higher, especially in displacement camps, where temporary shelters are overcrowded - sometimes more than 10 to a tent - and where clean drinking water, healthcare and sanitation are scarce. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) has observed instances from the Philippines to North America where climate displaced individuals are being forced to sleep outdoors or sent back to vulnerable conditions instead of shelters or camps due to concerns of coronavirus spread. As the Americas and Asia face hurricane and cyclone seasons in June, displacement, shelter and coronavirus pressures are likely to converge and increase. (Reuters)