Abstract
The cyclones Idai and Kenneth as well as the 2019 floods were declared the worst to have hit the southern African region in decades. Strong winds and heavy rains placed the region in a state of crisis, claiming lives, flattening buildings and triggering massive floods that damaged critical infrastructure and farmlands and submerged entire communities. Their aftermath left affected people without shelter, food, safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, a situation which prompted migration. Using the case study research design, this chapter investigates the impacts of these meteorological events on migration patterns of people in Zimbabwe and South Africa focusing on Chimanimani, Zimbabwe, and Port St Johns, South Africa. The chapter further explores whether cyclones, floods and related environmental catastrophes will be the next drivers of intra- and international migration within the southern African region. The findings of the study were based on a survey comprising household questionnaires. The results showed that even though migration decisions are influenced by economic, social and political drivers, people generally prefer to move internally despite the reoccurrence of disasters. Instead, migration to other countries is typically triggered by household economic constraints and tends to be voluntary. The findings resonate with other studies that explore the relationship between environmental catastrophes and internal migration.
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Notes
- 1.
While it may be beyond the scope of this chapter, it should be noted that there have been numerous initiatives and frameworks to address migration caused by climate-induced disasters, such as the Sustainable Development Goals, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the World Humanitarian Summit, the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, the Nansen Initiative on Disaster-induced Cross-border Displacement and its successor, the Platform on Disaster Displacement. Refer to https://disasterdisplacement.org/the-platform/the-context (accessed on 22 October 2020).
- 2.
UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) (2019). The number of international migrants reaches 272 million, continuing an upward trend in all world regions, says UN. Available at: https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/international-migrant-stock-2019.html (accessed 2 June 2020).
- 3.
Southern Rhodesia also required labour for its mines and agricultural enterprises, therefore there were agreements to regulate labour migration to South Africa. Of course, such regulation was not easy to implement and clandestine labour migration continued to occur.
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Mashula, N., Ntombela, N.G., Kunene, H.P., Sehlapelo, D., Pophiwa, N. (2021). Exploring the Migration Effects of Cyclones and Floods in Southern Africa: A Focus on 2019 Floods and Cyclones Idai and Kenneth. In: Nhamo, G., Chapungu, L. (eds) The Increasing Risk of Floods and Tornadoes in Southern Africa. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74192-1_10
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