Disasters put people on the move, for better or for worse

By Kayly Ober

Disaster-related displacement is often negative, but can result in more resilient communities under the right circumstances. This can include better management of remittances sent to family members in the disaster zone. 

In 2018, more than 17.2 million people were displaced by sudden-onset disasters worldwide, with Asia and the Pacific accounting for 12.6 million, or more than 73%, of that total, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center. While these numbers seem large, they have been growing steadily and are expected to increase in the face of climate change. By 2050, the World Bank predicts there will be about 140 million internal climate migrants with 60 million in South Asia alone due to water scarcity, crop failure, sea-level rise, and storm surges.
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