Day of Prayer for Refugees and Migrants
“We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental. Strategies for a solution demand an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature.”
- Pope Francis, Laudato Si’ 139
Erosion to a road in Walo, Solomon Islands.
Our changing climate is a significant and increasing cause of migration.
Climate change is having serious impacts on communities across the world, making it difficult for people to live safe, secure, and dignified lives.
In Aotearoa New Zealand, we are closely connected with our Pacific neighbours – countries that are bearing the brunt of the effects of climate change.
“When Pacific communities must move, they risk losing their ways of life and their cultural heritage.
Their sense of connection to themselves, to their communities and to nature are deeply affected. The alteration of land-related cultural traditions leads to social disruption, conflict and even violence.
The strong sociocultural, religious and historical connections of Pacific Islanders to their homes means that moving permanently is a substantial decision that comes at great cost. It cannot be taken lightly.”
– Caritas Internationalis, Displaced by a Changing Climate
The impacts of climate change can be sudden and unexpected.
Extreme weather events such as floods, cyclones, and tropical storms often result in damage to land and homes, forcing people to relocate, to another area within their home country, or, to a different country.
There are other also less visible ways that climate change is causing migration and internal displacement.
For example, the rising sea levels are resulting in the salination of clean drinking water supplies, and the salination of the soil, resulting in poor crop growth.
This impacts people’s access to food, as well as the livelihoods of those who rely on selling their crops for an income.
Because people are often forced to relocate as a matter of necessity, they can find themselves in riskier situations than if they were able to move on their own terms.
Above: Khadim Masih, 70, wades through knee-deep water in the village of Padri Goth in District Sanghar of Sindh province, Pakistan, following the severe flooding in Pakistan two years ago. He and his family faced significant hardships due to the flood, including the tragic loss of one of his children, and the destruction of his shop. Photo credit: Caritas Pakistan.