Migration caused by natural disasters is a topic that has been placed on the academic agenda during the last decades, with an increasing visibility in the public sphere. Characterised by a lack of definition in the legal area and a progressive deepening of the debate around the associated factors, the so-called environmental migration reflects one of the human faces of disasters.
In my recent book “Historias sumergidas, perspectivas emergentes: lucha, éxodo y adaptación tras las inundaciones en Miramar” (Submerged stories, emerging perspectives: fight, exodus and adaptation after floods in Miramar), I discussed about drivers, barriers and challenges of migration pathways after a flood by using an anthropological approach. The impact generated by the flood was irreversible in the short and medium term for the social and economic structure of the town, leading some people to stay and adjust their ways of life, while some others opted to migrate, seeking to generate new opportunities in other locations.
This article looks at reflecting on environmental migration from a practical and historical perspective and outlining its policy importance and underlying concept of disasters. The next section presents a brief summary of conceptual approaches, followed by an introduction of the case. The last section presents some policy recommendations that could be considered for discussion in future policy debates.
Diverse approaches, multiple realities
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) defined environmental migration in a broad way:
“Environmental migrants are persons or groups of persons who, predominantly for reasons of sudden or progressive change in the environment that adversely affects their lives or living conditions, are obliged to leave their habitual homes, or choose to do so, either temporarily or permanently, and who move either within their country or abroad” (IOM, 2007:33).
One debate on the categorisation of environmental migrants is linked to the possibility of isolating the environmental factor as a determinant or exclusive cause of migration. The literature differentiates two positions: the first one, called maximalist, suggesting the environment is the first, even the only cause of migration. This position has been criticised, explaining that not all migrants react in the same way to certain environmental factors, and also questioning the extent to which environmental factors actually "legitimise" migration.
As a result of this criticism, the so-called minimalist approaches were developed. These new approaches link migration with a wide range of closely related factors such as economics, politics, culture, among others. Minimalism triggered different studies including the transformation of power, changes in the local conception of the environment, the role of women, or perceptions in relation to decision making.
Further studies describe the degree of control that a person has while deciding whether to migrate or not (in this case we talk about refugees or forced displacement). In order to determine the factors that "oblige" a person to migrate, there are possible situations: the occurrence of a disaster, which causes the migration to be unintentional; the cases of environmental deterioration, although there is a greater degree of dependence with the economic variables; and expropriations, linked to development projects (such as the construction of dams or containment dams) that make the migration intentional and, in some cases, planned.
Environmental migration has been also considered as a response strategy to adapt and confront environmental risks. However, the population tends to have a self-perception depending on its status as a migrant, or in many cases, linked to other factors such as economic, or the search for better life chances at destination. In this sense, it is necessary to consider how, why and from what places discourses on migration are built.
The case of Miramar
Miramar is the only coastal city in the Mar Chiquita Lake area, located in the northeast of the province of Córdoba, Argentina. Although its origin was associated with a holiday resort of the Argentine aristocracy, since the early twentieth century, the town of Miramar has been characterised as a city with a large national and international tourist affluent. The history of the Mar Chiquita Lake, on which the town was founded, shows changes in the tributary river courses that have caused variation on the water levels of the lake, creating times of great economic fervour, as well as different and successive floods in the city of Miramar: in 1959, in the late seventies (1977-1978) and in 2003.
In the seventies, the city was flooded extensively, leaving most of the hotel and tourist infrastructure underwater:
It was the biggest flood that the town had to endure to date. 37 blocks were affected. More than 60 per cent of the town was flooded. There were no victims, none, only material losses (...) From the 110 hotels, 102 were flooded: more than the 90 per cent of the hotels in the area. Also, some of the public establishments like the bus terminal, and two of the three churches. (Narrative of the Museum Guide of Photography)
The different floods, interspersed by periods of drought have given different landscapes to the geography of the local territory in Mar Chiquita Lake. The morphology of the city has been often modified by the floods and with these transformations, the life of the town has changed. Also, during the period between 1970 and 1991 and specifically after the flood, around thirty per cent of the population migrated to other destinations, inside and outside the province of Cordoba, becoming a visible effect of the disaster. There were three main pathways followed after the flood:
The first response strategy after the flood was to stay in town and seek alternative opportunities to the local economy. The family composition, the availability of resources and the local networks enabling temporary relocation within the village were some factors playing a central role in the decision to stay. Risk awareness didn’t change significantly for those staying in town: their roots to the land and potential economic benefits from tourism were deemed priority compared to the possible recurrence of the phenomenon. This led to a normalization of risk that is absorbed in the daily dynamics of the city (tourism).
A second adaptation strategy after the flood has been the migration of almost 25% of the population. The chosen place of destination depended both on the social networks established and the availability of economic resources. Some people moved to nearby villages, where they had greater closer family relationships or friendship and business relationships that facilitated a quick resettlement. Also, many sought to follow the tourist activities and decided to move to Carlos Paz, a city that was born as a tourist destination in the west of the province of Cordoba. In this sense, the decline in economic activity has been the main push factor for those who have migrated.
The third and last strategy are the return processes, which are rooted in some urban interventions carried out by the local government to boost tourist activity, such as the demolition of flooded houses (1990s) and the construction of a coastal defence (some stretches completed in 2013). The possibility of returning has been conditioned by the possibility to reinvest in the city and get back to deep cultural and historical roots to the place. However, people that chose to return to Miramar has underestimated the possibility of a new flood occurring and, as the first group, they prioritised the investment and economic benefits underlying the return process over the flood possibility.
The policy uptake
Anthropological research, among other academic perspectives, can inform policymakers on previous experiences and trends in the field and contribute to improve the way policymaking is done. Let's say that environmental migration matters on the process but also on properly tackling the causes. While there is an urgent need to prepare concrete plans and contingency programmes for the cases in which resettlement, migration or displacement could happen, the focus should be on avoiding and addressing the underlying processes: disasters and environmental crises.
The design of efficient policies for disaster risk reduction involves understanding local conceptions about disaster risks in a specific context. Therefore, the design of disaster risk management policies and territorial development plans should respond to community needs based on a bottom-up, participatory and comprehensive approach. Ultimately, this will contribute to integrate the vision of a common future.
Policies should also aim at creating resilience and develop the ability to use crises to catalyse innovation and enable learning in social diversity. Citizen participation will not only create more capacity to withstand with future shocks but will also help the whole society to properly manage the threats and the conditions of uncertainty (possible future events). Some areas that should be covered include local empowerment, leadership, governance, institutional arrangements in defining policy agendas and public-private partnerships.
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