Post-displacement status of climate migrants in Rajshahi City, Bangladesh

Some big cities in Bangladesh have been experiencing a massive and rapid influx of rural people due to the impacts of climate change,and therefore the urban administration encounters enormous challenges.This study aims to investigate the drivers of climate-induced migration and the post-displacement status of the migrants living in the urban slum of Rajshahi City.Using a semi-structured questionnaire survey,this study conducted interviews with 50 migrants residing in two slums in Rajshahi City.An interpretive phenomenological analysis(IPA)approach was implemented to evaluate the survey data.This study finds that food insecurity and flood are the two significant climate drivers of migration.Among the non-climate drivers,lack of alternative livelihood is the major reason.It should be noticed that the climate migrants in many cases do not get the opportunity to improve their living standards;they are usually occupied with low-pay professions like maid,van and rickshaw puller,and scrap collector.The study also reveals that migrants,especially females and children,need several basic physiological,economic,social,and health services.Most children have no chance to attend school.Compared to males,females have more opportunities for some support and allowances.Overall,an inadequate level of change has taken place in the lives of migrants,which raises the concern if migration is ever a way to resolve a problem or the beginning of many other problems.Further research may concentrate on the impact of migration on the dynamics of social capital among slum dwellers.

The relationship of internal migration and depressive symptoms as well as its mechanisms:evidence from China

An increasing interest has been focused on the association of internal migration with depressive symptoms in China.However,very few of those studies investigated the possible mechanisms underlying that association.This study aims to examine the relationship between internal migration and depressive symptoms and various mechanisms behind this relationship among Chinese middle-aged and older adults.The data was drawn from the national China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study(CHARLS)2011.The depressive symptoms were defined by the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale(CES-D-10).Within the broader definition of internal migration,we divided migration status into multiple types based on individuals’hukou information.Structural equation models(SEMs)were adopted to examine the association between different types of migration and depressive symptoms and disaggregate the relationship between internal migration and depressive symptoms into direct and mediation pathways.After considering selection features related to migration processes,we found strong relationships between multiple types of internal migration and depressive symptoms.Compared with rural non-migrants,rural-to-urban migrants with urban hukou,urban-to-urban migrants,and urban non-migrants had fewer depressive symptoms(β=-0.75,95%CI:-1.02,-0.49;β=-1.21,95%CI:-1.68,-0.73;andβ=-0.39,95%CI:-0.49,-0.29,respectively).Post-migration experiences,such as living conditions,household income per capita and social participation,mediated the relationship between internal migration and depressive symptoms.These findings of the mechanisms underlying the link between internal migration and depressive symptoms offer evidence for developing mental health interventions for migrants during the rapid progress of urbanization in China.