Climate change, human security, and unstable migration in Bangladesh.

This research examines how unstable internal migration to large cities in developing countries caused by climate change events is a security threat, hypothesising that the human security paradigm is more fitted to understand such threat than the realist security paradigm. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh has been used as a case study since Bangladesh is considered as one of the worst affected climate change vulnerable countries. I used qualitative data that I collected by interviewing 31 eco-migrants extensively from Dhaka city to test my hypothesis. This research shows that eco-migrants in large cities of developing countries face hardship and have limited access to various basic rights including adequate housing, jobs and economic opportunities, education, and public healthcare. They also may not have enough political agency to escalate their concerns as citizens to relevant government authorities. This research highlights that internal migration associated with climate change in developing countries is not always circular but rather permanent to certain extend and contextual to climate change events that can ultimately put huge pressure on already oversubscribed and under-resourced public services in large cities of developing countries creating a security risk that has been developed from within states and being felt both at national and individual level. This research underscores that this new form of security threat exhibited by unstable internal eco-migration in climate change affected developing countries is better understood and apprehended by human security apparatus than realist security apparatus that is military centric primarily focusing on external threats or under-appreciating the importance of shifting the frame of security reference from state to individuals to understand this threat. Furthermore, I hypothesised that in a democratic-society citizens would normally protest to demonstrate their disenchantment against their government if it fails to handle citizens expectation to provide them with basic citizens’ rights including housing, economic opportunities, education, and healthcare. However, findings of this research show that citizens’ disenchantment doesn’t always result in protest or civil disobedience because of the fear of being prosecuted by political elites and government law-enforcement agencies. Keywords: climate change; unstable migration; human security; civil unrest; national security, developing countries.