Environmental Migrants: Why They Are Fleeing Photos

"Environmental Migrants: The Last Illusion" by photographer, Alessandro Grassani, documents thelife of people in Kenya, Mongolia and Bangladesh who migrate to escape environmental stresses tothe city of their own countries in hopes for a better life. Looking for new ways of livelihood, these"Environmental Migrants" leave for urban areas which are often overcrowded and extremely poor.In this photo, a drained well in the Turkana County of Kenya which once was the only spring ofdrinking water for the territory. This territory is almost totally deserted due a severe draught.

Alessandro Grassani

According to Grassani, droughts and wars between different pastoral groups seeking pasture andwater for their animals are pushing many Kenyans dreaming of a better future towards Nairobi. Thepicture shows Edipo, 23, from the Turkana tribe in Kenya. Edipo was badly injured in an attack by aneighboring tribal group.

Alessandro Grassani

"The Last Illusion" in the title refers to, accordingto Grassani, the illusion of a favorable future forthese migrants, who once in the city continue tosuffer due to lack of resources, education andopportunities. Pictured in this photo, Rose, 34,works outside her mud hut in Nairobi, Kenya.Rose is from the Amagoru village in the Turkana province, an area that has suffered from animmense drought. She decided to immigrate to Nairobi with her husband and their six children afterall her animals died of hunger and thirst.

Alessandro Grassani

The cramped streets of the slum of Kibera where many environmental migrants fleeing from thecountryside go to live in Narobi, Kenya.

Alessandro Grassani

Grassani visited the communities living in the districts of Dacope, Satkhira and Begherhat,Bangladesh where residents face floods and destruction from cyclones. The Dacope district inBangladesh, seen here, was hit by a cyclone in May, 2009 causing the whole area, which was once

farmland, to be completely dried up due to the infiltration of sea water.

Alessandro Grassani

Fazila Khatum hangs laundry out to dry as water from a nearby river floods the streets of theSatkhira district of Bangladesh. For the past nine years, the river has caused severe flooding forcingnearby residents to live in fear never knowing how quickly or how much water will come. Fazila andher husband used to cultivate rice which has become impossible due to the flooding; they now sellpoultry to the markets.

Alessandro Grassani

The view of Kawran Bazar slums where thousands of people live alongside the railway lines inDhaka, Bangladesh. Over the years, Dhaka has seen an influx of newcomers entering the city, someof which are migrants leaving the countryside due to severe flooding and destruction caused bycyclones.

Alessandro Grassani

An abandoned home, known as a Ger, is submerged by snow in the Ulziit village, Mongolia. In aninterview with Verve Photo, Alessandro explains, "The herdsmen from the countryside are forced toabandon the rural and isolated areas where they used to live. They arrive in the city after a lifetimespent in the pastures and are untrained to take on any kind of work and end up living a life ofhardship in the slum of the city which, in the past twenty years has rapidly grown without any urbanplanning, running water or electricity.

Alessandro Grassani

Erdene Tuya and her 3-year-old son Tuvchinj struggle through harsh winters alongside their herd ofsheep in Mongolia's Arkhangai province. Severe winter conditions, known as Dzud, have beenresponsible for the deaths of half the family's once 2,000-strong herd over the past three winters. In2010, during one of the harsher Dzuds, more than 8 million sheep, cows, horses and camels died inMongolia, giving some herdsmen no choice but to migrate towards the city of Ulan Bator.

Alessandro Grassani

Erdene Tuya, 29, hauls a sheep that passed away due to the severe winter conditions to a smallburial ground. In Mongolia's Arkhangai province, families struggle through harsh winters alongsidetheir herd of sheep. According to the International Organization for Migration, "Future forecastsvary from 25 million controllingpollution to 1 billion environmental migrants by 2050, moving eitherwithin their countries or across borders, on a permanent or temporary basis, with 200 million beingthe most widely cited estimate. This figure equals the current estimate of international migrants

worldwide."

Alessandro Grassani