‘Situation is getting worse and worse’: UN warns climate change escalates vulnerability of refugee communities

By Muhammet Ikbal Arslan

GENEVA (AA) - Extreme weather events and climate change are increasing the vulnerability of refugees and displaced communities, making their lives more difficult, according to a UN spokesperson.

In an interview with Anadolu, Olga Sarrado, the spokesperson for the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), highlighted the impact of climate change on refugees and forcibly displaced persons.

Sarrado pointed out that extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, and storms are becoming more frequent and are negatively affecting refugees and displaced individuals.

“What happens is that these extreme weather events and climate change are exacerbating the vulnerability of refugees and other displaced communities,” Sarrado said. “They are increasing their protection risks and they are also impacting their self-reliance, their possibility to rebuild their lives where they are.”

“In some occasions as well we are seeing that these extreme weather events are forcing them to be displaced once again. Some of them will be able to go back to their communities but others they lose everything and they need to start from zero again in another location. So this is the main impact that we are seeing on refugees from these extreme weather events and the impact of climate change,” she said.

- Situation to worsen by 2040

Sarrado cited UNHCR statistics showing that as of May 2024, 120 million people worldwide have been forcibly displaced, adding three-fourths of them live in countries highly vulnerable to extreme weather events and climate disasters.

“So that means that a vast majority of those that are refugees or internally displaced people have also to cope with extreme climate events and UNHCR projections tell us that by 2040 the situation will be much worse.”

“There will be a vast majority of those forcibly displaced and refugees living in countries that are extremely vulnerable to climate change. We see countries like Syria, Sudan, the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Bangladesh, these are countries that are extremely vulnerable.”

Chad, one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change and extreme weather events, is also one of the most hospitable to displaced persons, Sarrado noted, stressing the need for the international community to support countries hosting refugees.

- Brazil floods displace 600,000

“In the just last couple of months we have seen extreme floods impacting the southern regions of Brazil. These floods have displaced 600,000 people,” Sarrado said.

“Many of them they were already refugees in the country that have lost everything and have been forced to move again. It's exactly the same for East Africa. In the past few months we've seen increased floods that have been impacting close to 1 million people that were already refugees or internally displaced. Their homes have been inundated, devastated. They have lost their employments, their businesses. So they have to start from zero once again.”

Sarrado stated that most of those displaced due to extreme weather events and climate change move within their own countries.

She cited data from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre showing that nearly 26 million people were displaced due to extreme weather events in 2023, many due to floods or droughts.

“All the worst-case scenarios that we are looking into in terms of the climate and the extreme weather events are being shattered,” Sarrado said.

“The situation is getting worse and worse. So we know that we need to act now. We need to invest so people are equipped so they can stay where they are, and UNHCR is doing efforts towards this direction.”