CLIMATE-RELATED MOBILITY AND HUMAN SECURITY IN PAKISTAN AND BANGLADESH: IMPLICATIONS FOR EUROPEAN UNION MIGRATION GOVERNANCE
Abstract
Climate-related human mobility has become a major human-security challenge, particularly in South Asia, where environmental exposure intersects with poverty, livelihood dependence, rapid urbanization, inequality, and limited adaptive capacity. This article examines how sudden- and slow-onset climate hazards generate different patterns of mobility and insecurity in Pakistan and Bangladesh and considers their implications for European Union migration and protection governance. It adopts a qualitative comparative case-study design supported by structured document, policy, and legal analysis. The study applies the seven dimensions of human security economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community, and political security to compare flood-related displacement in Pakistan with mobility and involuntary immobility associated with salinity intrusion, sea-level rise, erosion, and livelihood decline in coastal Bangladesh. The findings show that climate-related mobility is predominantly internal, multi-causal, and socially unequal. Environmental hazards interact with existing vulnerabilities, while movement does not necessarily restore security and may transfer people from one form of risk to another. The analysis further finds that national and regional systems remain oriented toward emergency response, whereas international and EU protection mechanisms rely mainly on legal categories developed around persecution, armed conflict, or clearly defined mass emergencies. Existing protection is therefore not entirely absent, but it remains fragmented and poorly adapted to cumulative environmental harm. The article argues for a layered human-security approach combining anticipatory adaptation, portable social protection, inclusive urban planning, carefully designed mobility pathways, stronger non-refoulement assessment, and greater coherence between EU migration, climate, humanitarian, and development policies.
Keywords: Climate-related human mobility; climate-induced displacement; human security; South Asia; Pakistan; Bangladesh; European Union migration governance
