The untold story of Sandwip's climate victims

"It was around 1958 when I was a second grader, we lost our homes into the sea. My father was a wealthy farmer with about 80 acres of farmland. After losing everything he fell into a miserable situation with our family.  Not only our village but also the whole Batajora union of Sandwip was completely devoured by the sea causing at least 15,000 people homeless in the 1970s. We have moved to Horish pur another union of Sandwip. Here we lost our home twice again," said Rafiqul Islam, a former Union Parishad chairman of Horish Pur in Sandwip.

"I lost my home in the sea five times—every time sea makes us penny less. I never leave my hope—working hard every time, I had turnaround and elected chairman of Horishpur three times," said the high prolific climate migrant who was also the administrator for Sandwip municipality for five years.

The 72-year-old migrant came in a programme on February 25 in Sandwip's Rahamat Char 'Face to climate refugee,' arranged by Human24, a volunteer organization that is working to raise the voices of climate victims for climate justice, he said "Several hundred thousand of people displaced from Sandwip over the years like me."

Mokarom Hossain Manik, a farmer by profession said "I have been displaced several times from 1974-2019. Still, I am on run for a safe living place. One evening of 2000, my eldest daughter was suffering from labour pain and the doctor suggested admitting her to a good hospital in Chattogram city. As Sandwip is a sea-lock Island after 5 pm and rough sea it is difficult to move from here. However, we started our journey by a wooden boat for Chattogram. In heavy waves of bay in the middle of the Sea, my daughter gave birth to a toddler who was died.

Nurul Akhter who is an aspirant candidate for the next parliamentary election from the ruling party alliance also shared his story of how he lost his home in the sea several times.  This is not mare story of these three people it is estimated that in the last 100 years, half of the Sandwip people were displaced due to sea level rise, extreme weather such as cyclones and increasing salinity in farmland.

Several settlements were built called Sandwippara or Sanwdip colonies in Chittagong and adjacent districts as the displaced people settled their homes.

According to a study through the integration of Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) titled "Coastline Change and Erosion-Accretion Evolution of the Sandwip Island, Bangladesh" by Dhaka University found that the Island was 502 square kilometers in 1880. However, the Island shrank to 290 km2 in 1979 due to the massive bank erosion.  It is also noted that about 40% of the island in the east was eroded during the period between 1984 and 2007.

The Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS) found that the Island is losing at a rate of 1.51 km2 every year and roughly 1500 people are displacing every year. CEGIS data showed that from 1973 to 2020 the Island lost around 71 km2 displacing around 71,000 people.

Samrat Khisa, Upazila Nirbahi Officer of Sandwip Upazila told The Business Standard, "About half of the Island devoured by the sea. Now the Island is approximately around 258 km2."

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, sea level rise and salinity intrusion are prominent coastal hazards in Bangladesh. Here Sandwip is no exception. Salinity increasing every year. Farmers are struggling to cope with it. There is huge shortages of irrigation for the crops.

Losing land, losing history

With the losing homes and farmland, the people are also losing their enriched history, the memory of childhood, and relation with relatives. As Namaste, Izzatpur, Batajora, Hudrakhali, and Rohini disappeared into the sea along with many other villages. These names are lost now.

In Sandwip there are many iconic figures were born. Many of their homes were lost in the sea.

The 17th-century poet Abdul Hakim (1620-1690), a Bengali poet, the iconic poet who considered shows the way of Bangla language and his famous poem Bangabani is content for seven grader students in Bangladesh was born in Sandwip.

In the medieval ages, Persian and Arabic tended to be court languages all over South Asia and were perceived by some as the languages to do literary work in. He criticizes the trend and concurred the heart of Bengali people. His home was also lost into the sea. After losing his home the generation of Sandwip also forgot him.

Muzaffar Ahmad co-founder of the Communist Party of India was born at Musapur village in Sandwip; AKM Rafiq Ullah Choudhury, a former member of parliament and also a Language movement hero of Kalapania; Mustafa Kamal Pasha former member of parliament; Fakhrul Islam, first mayor of Sandwip municipality lost their home in the sea.

Chowdhury Hasan Sarwardy, former lieutenant general of the Bangladesh Army from Katghar Union, the whole union is totally devoured by the sea by 1974 when he was 14 years old.  He said that around 10,000 people were living in the sub-unit of the administration and the erosion started in 1972 just within two years all the area was devoured by the sea.

"We moved to Raikhali jungle of Kodela in Rangunia in Chittagong along with other 2,000 families. With losing our permanent address were are losing our history," said Chowdhury Hasan Sarwardy.

"Climate migrant is also a stigma, In Bangladesh, the people who are climate migrants are not given in charge of the important post in their service life. It is also an identity crisis," said Chowdhury Hasan Sarwardy.

"In all my papers my address is Katghar there is nothing but sea now," he added.

Saleh Noman, a journalist and coordinator of Human24 said "More than half of the residents here have lost their homes at some point in their lives due to sea level rise. Almost everyone is affected directly and indirectly. People have assumed that this is a very natural destiny though they are not responsible for it. We have taken this initiative on behalf of Human24 organization to spread the suffering of our people for climate justice and action to save people."