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Rapid climate change in climate hotspots across the globe increasingly elicit short-term and long-term migration within and across national borders (Betts and Pilath, 2017; Farbotko, 2022; Piguet, 2022). By focusing on economic migration as the most prevalent form of large-scale migration, existing literature stops short at identifying climate change as a primary catalyst for intra and international movement of communities and instead describes climate migration as a migration “threat multiplier”, at best (Culbertson, RAND, 2024). In research, Ghatak focuses on the empirical transnational context of the India-Bangladesh border known for the contentious border control jurisdiction governed by the two countries, to ask, how does diverging state capacity influence the two nations’ planning for potential cross-border migration induced by climate change impacts such as soil salinization, flooding, heatwaves and drought? Building on the theory of state capacity (Besley and Persson, 2021; Savoia and Sen, 2014) and the growing literature on climate migration (Stanley and Williamson, 2021), this research examines questions around nationality and citizenship in the context of the growing global climate apartheid. More specifically, Ghatak examines the drivers that shape state and citizen perceptions around climate migrants and human rights in the context of religious tension and growing political polarization between neighboring countries.
 
In this talk, Ghatak explains the mixed-method research design that combines ethnographic observations with policy narrative analysis, particularly to aid research where primary data collection is a safety concern as well as the result of long-standing data gaps. Based on my ongoing dissertation field work that informs this study, Ghatak proposes a theoretical framework of climate rights to reflect on the current approaches adopted by national governments to tackle climate migration. Preliminary findings suggest that ethnic networks and political attitudes shape the outlook toward climate migrants in citizens residing in the bordering states. Narrative analysis demonstrates a lack of understanding, preparedness and planning for climate migration across the two nations, where contextually informed policy messaging holds the potential to yield the necessary first steps for managing climate migration at the local level.

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