Bangladesh’s climate refugees face double threat of displacement, toxic air

By Faisal Mahmud

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – As Afsaruddin pulled a handful of crumpled notes from his pocket to pay for the boat ride across the canal, the bustling traffic of Dhaka on the far side was already gaining momentum.

It was early morning, and the air in Korail, the sprawling slum in the heart of the Bangladeshi capital, hung heavy with humidity, mingled with the scent of wild spices and stench of sewage.

Korail, the largest slum in the city of nearly 20 million, occupies an island-like patch of land separated from mainland Dhaka by Gulshan Lake and its canals.

The tin-shed houses lining the slum cast their reflections on the lake’s surface, alongside the shimmering mirage of luxury high-rises in the nearby affluent Gulshan neighborhood – a stark juxtaposition of wealth and poverty.

Within the slum, low-income families live in tight quarters, providing vital services – household help, rickshaw-pulling, sewage work – to the city’s wealthier residents.

Asfar, a rickshaw-puller, has called Korail home for the past eight years.

Every day, he crosses the canal by boat to retrieve his rickshaw from a “mohajon” – a term for rickshaw business owners – and spends 12-hour shifts ferrying passengers around the city, earning roughly $20 daily.

For many, this is considered a decent income in a city where even mid-level white-collar workers often earn less than $500 a month and struggle to make ends meet amid rising inflation.

However, there is a glaring difference between the two groups: while office workers enjoy the relative comfort of desk jobs, Asfar endures grueling physical labor, exposed to Dhaka’s increasingly toxic air for hours on end.

“Every month, I spend around 1,500 taka ($12) on medicine,” he told Anadolu.

“I’ve developed asthma and a severe cough from breathing in this polluted air. Back in my village in Kathuria, Satkhira, the air was so clean and refreshing.”

For Asfar, there was no choice but to leave his village.

“After Cyclone Aila (in May 2009), the soil became too saline to grow crops. There was no work to sustain us,” he sighed, reflecting on the harsh reality that drove him to Dhaka.

- Vicious cycle of climate change

Bangladesh, a low-lying delta nation crisscrossed by rivers, is among the countries most vulnerable to the impact of climate change.

Rising sea levels, increasingly severe cyclones, and erratic rainfall patterns are making life in coastal areas and the country’s interior increasingly precarious.

Cyclones have become more frequent in recent decades and have turned people like Asfar into climate refugees.

These disasters have also made them victims of another consequence of climate change: the worsening air pollution in unplanned megacities like Dhaka.

The capital of the South Asian nation has frequently ranked as one of the world’s most polluted cities in recent years, with its air quality index (AQI) reading often exceeding 210.

An AQI between 151 and 200 is classified as unhealthy, 201-300 as very unhealthy, and 301-400 as hazardous, posing serious health risks to residents.

The AQI is calculated daily, and the leading cities often shift, with India’s New Delhi and Pakistan’s Lahore frequently topping the list.

However, Dhaka remains one of the few cities that consistently ranks among the top 10, highlighting the severity of its air quality crisis.

Dhaka’s increasingly toxic air is fueled by a vicious cycle.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of climate refugees, like Asfar, migrate to the capital after cyclones or river erosion destroy their homes.

They add to the city’s already overstretched and poorly planned urban landscape, further straining its fragile ecosystem.

“The slums where these refugees often settle significantly contribute to air pollution,” Shamir Shehab, founder of the Bangladesh Youth Environmental Initiative, a platform advocating for climate justice, told Anadolu.

He explained that smoke from household cooking stoves and emissions from small-scale industrial workshops in the slums release harmful pollutants, exacerbating air quality issues.

Many slum residents work in brick kilns on the city’s outskirts, a major source of Dhaka's air pollution, he added.

The city’s rapid construction boom, fueled by the centralization of nearly all national activities in the capital, drives an unrelenting demand for bricks.

“This demand sustains pollution-heavy brick kilns, creating a vicious cycle of environmental degradation and urban expansion,” Shehab added.

- ‘Inescapable trap’

Life for Bangladesh’s climate refugees has become somewhat of “an inescapable trap,” according to Ahmad Kamruzzaman Majumder, a professor of environmental science at Stamford University in Dhaka.

“I wouldn’t describe the increasing toxicity in Dhaka’s air as a distant effect of climate change – it has become increasingly evident,” he told Anadolu.

Majumder explained that Dhaka’s severe air pollution is the result of a toxic mix of emissions from old vehicles, brick kilns, large-scale construction projects, and the burning of fossil fuels and garbage.

“We often overlook the escalating problem of waste management,” he said.

“Dhaka’s growing population generates enormous amounts of garbage, and the civic authorities still resort to burning it as the cheapest solution, given the lack of expensive recycling facilities.”

He further explained how changing climate patterns are exacerbating the problem.

“Shorter rainy seasons have become more common, reducing the likelihood of smog being cleared away. At the same time, winters are now prolonged but milder, marked by persistent fog and smog rather than the colder temperatures we used to experience,” said Majumder.

Back on Dhaka’s streets, rickshaw puller Asfar is unaware of the larger climate change narratives and their impacts. All he knows is that his worsening asthma has made his job increasingly difficult.

“These days, I have to take frequent breaks just to catch my breath. But the air here feels sharp and metallic,” he said.

“In my village, it smelled of grass and fresh rain.”