CHAPTER I

ENVIRONMENTAL DIMENSION OF INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION

Geography has involved man environment relationship as a major discussion

area in its scope of study where environmental consequences of immigrants as

well as environment as a cause of migration are identified strands of modern

geographical concerns. In order to analyses environment and immigrants a

brief overview of man environment relationship needs to be analysed in order

to understand the effect of migration in particular on environment as this

relationship with the environment is man environment relationship in

specificity.

MAN'S INTERVENTION WITH ENVIRONMENT

Man's intervention with environment has been a focal theme of geographical

enquiry with the focus shifting from environment to man from time to time.

The approaches towards studying the interaction have been different as

broadly outlayed in the different concepts given below. \

Environmental Deterministic Approach

This approach suggests man's subordination to the environment in all aspects

of human life. It further suggests not only dependence on the environment but

total control by the environment. The origin of this thought came with the

writing of Origin of Species by Charles Darwin in 1859 and was reiterated

with the writing of American geographer E.C. Semple in her book Influences of

Geographic on Environment in 1910.

15

Teleological Approach

Teachings of Judeo Christian religious tradition promulgated the superiority

of man to nature and all other creation and that everything is created for

his/her use and enjoyment. This idea fostered an inconsiderate exploitation by

man of his natural environment. Environment today holds this religious

tradition responsible for the environmental crisis.

Possibilitistic Approach

Critiques to the environmental determinists, the Possibilists postulated the

superiority of human beings of nature. They said there are possibilities

everywhere and man is the mother of these possibilities and the judge of their

use. Man cannot do away with environment hence his activities are limited.

He can yet modify it if not suppress it. The major propagators were Vidal de la

Blache, Jeans Bruhnes and others.

Economic Deterministic Approach

Economy decides the fate of man's interaction with environment. This

approach suggests an economic growth is essential for political, social and \

economic stability, the quality of environment normally assumes lower

priority in planning. This approach based itself on two assumptions (1)

positive correlation between the population of a green region and the level of

economic development (2) the interaction of people resources and society are

governed by universal economic principles.

Ecological Approach

This approach is based on the basic concept of ecology. Ecology is a study of

mutual interactions between organisms and physical environment on one

hand and interactions among organism in a given ecosystem. This approach

suggests man as an individual part of the ecosystem and his action should be

16

symbiotic and not exploitative nor suppressive. C.C. Park, the advocate of this

approach says the relationship between man and environment is two

directional as the environment affects and influences man in turn man also

influences and modifies the environment. This relation is mutual and

symbiotic.

All these approaches into studying environment man relationship have gained

importance from time to time and from place to place. Hence an historical

analysis of the issue becomes, important for the understanding of this project

problematic.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF MAN ENVIRONMENT RELATIONSHIP

Environmental consequences and irreversible problems have been a result of

the onslaught of man's impression on his environment through the growth of

mankind. The natural relationship between the primitive man and nature has

now changed to a hostile relationship between the technological man and his

environment. This change has been analysed in four different stages by

Savindra Singh in his book Environmental Geography.1

1. Period of hunting and food gathering

Man was a part of the natural environment at this period of time where his

function was limited to the requirement of food, which he collected from his

surrounding. Man was basically a biological man or primitive man. The

relationship with his environment was friendly, cordial and mutual. It was

immediately after this period that man discovered fire and the destruction of

environment came along with the careless burning of forests. Fire has been

used around the world for man's own benefit for improved travel and hunting

or farming.z

1 Singh Savindra, "Environmental Geography", Prayag Pustak Bhawan, Allahabad, India, 1991, pp.3 1.35. 2 Botkin, D.B., and Keller, E.A. "Environmental Studies", C.E. Merill Publishing Company. A Bell and Howell Company, Columbus 1982, pp.505.

17

2. Period of animal domestication and pastoralism

This period saw the hunting of animals, decrease of the population of some

animals and increase of the others, burning of forests for mobility, homes for

domesticated animals, community life, change in erosion rates by agricultural

and other land cleaning practices. The growth of nomadic pastoralist life style

and invasion of new areas for man's habitat are amongst the other modes for

man's interference with the natural environment.3 The nomadic lifestyle is the

first noticed environmental impact created by man through migration.

3. Period of plant domestication and agriculture

River valley civilisation is a product of this era where man changed from

nomads and wanderers to agriculture and sedentary lifestyle. Taming and

controlling the biotic components of natural environmental system come into

existence. This gave birth to social groups and organisation. Increase in

farming techniques eventually increased the human population and the

population of the domesticated animals. This led to the increased usage of

land and hence deforestation. Shifting agriculture came into practice. Hence

the change of natural environment to cultural environment took place through

various stages of agricultural development.

4. Period of science technology and industrialisation

Indiscriminate, rapacious exploitation of natural resources for industrial

expansion and urbanisation was a product of the emergence of science and

development of man's effluent technology. This was the emergence of the

technological man. The impact of modern technological man is varied and

highly complex, they fall into two broad categories.

3 ibid, pp.505.

18

i) Direct on intentional impact: These are preplanned and premediated

impacts as man is aware of the positive and negative consequences of the

changes and modification that he does on the natural environment e.g.

burning of forest and felling of trees for commercial purpose.

ii) Indirect or unintentional impacts: These are not premediated or planned

but arise from those activities, which are directed to accelerate the pace of

economic growth, especially industrial development. These are ancillary or

side effects on the environment. These consequences are not immediately

felt but subsequently are the most dangerous effects as most of the time

they are irreversible e.g. the usage of the pesticide DDT which is a toxic

element has caused irreversible damage to the soil, food produce and the

water.

In the present day world the man environment relationship is quite similar

with man exploiting the environment still, accelerating the negative

consequences on the environment. Though certain irreversible damages have

taken place yet a consciousness has arisen amongst the academia in the recent

past where environment conservation and preservation are being given

importance. Research in man environment relationship has come to the

forefront. Macro as well as micro aspects of this relationship are being worked

upon. Mankind has been divided into various sections and its impact on the

environment is being enquired into details. One such aspect is the study of

man environment relationship in the perspective of migration.

Movement of human beings and its relationship with environment is the area

of enquiry of this research topic. The impact on the environment by the people

who migrate. To analyse, we need to understand the impact by the

environment as a cause for migration. This consequently works as a factor

affecting the environment by the immigrants.

19

ENVIRONMENT AS A CAUSE OF MIGRATION

People who have been forced to leave their traditional habitat, temporarily or

permanently, because of an increased environmental disruption (natural

and/ or triggered by people) that jeopardised their exclusive and/ or seriously

affected the quality of their life have been termed as environmental

migrant/refugee. This definition has been put forward by El-Hinnawi.

Manfred Woehleke has also defined environmental refugee/migrant as

persons who leave their traditional milieu because their life has been

considerably restricted or endangered by natural and/ or anthrogenic

ecological damage and by the ecological strain of over population. This

migrating movement can be temporary or permanent.4

The ambiguity of the status of such forced migrants to be termed as refugees

arises as they fall outside the categories protected by instruments of

international refugee law both in terms of the text and intent of the drafters,

and in terms of current practice, particularly by western states.

Refugee status is limited to those outside their country of origin owing to well

{ounded fear of persecution, the latter being derived in narrow political

terms.5 Such a definition is inadequate for the root cause of flight in many a

developing nations, it excludes those suffering from economic and social

persecution and the effects of war as well as victims of natural disaster in

countries where states offer no protection. Legal theorist however are arguing

for the definition of a refugee to be rooted in human rights. Persecution can be

defined in terms of human rights violation as suggested by Coles and

Hathaway.6 Which under the covenant on economic, social and cultural rights,

includes the right to an adequate standard of living and the right to food. This

4 Woehlcke Manfred "Enviromental Refugees" Aussen Politik, Vol 43, No. 3, 1992, pp 55-59 5 Me. Gregor. Jo Ann "Refugees and the Environment" Richard Black and Vaughan Robinson Edt. Geography and Refugees. Pattern and Process of Change. Bethaven Press, London, 1993, pp.l60-161. 6 Hathaway, J. "Reconceiving refugee law as human rights protection", Journal of Refugee Studies 4(2), pp.ll3-131.

20

~ ~

when accepted broadly would include forcibly displaced people as a result of

environmental disturbance. Nonetheless, whether or not the category refugees

includes those fleeing environmental disturbances the use of the prefix

environmental is redundant as it has no founding in law.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMMIGRANTS

The term immigrants can be used here as the population, which migrate due

to environmental disturbances do not necessarily cross borders. They may also

be termed as displaced people. The other legal aspect, which comes into

enquiry, is that of a human induced environmental disturbance or a natural

environmental hazard.

C1o This suggests that environmental migration results from varying events. A C'\1 ~ broad classification would be on the basis of human interference and human

ft non-interference in the cause of the environmental disturbance.

1) Natural catastrophes without an anthropogenic component as a cause e.g.

volcanic eruption, earthquake, whirlwinds, hurricane, long period of

drought, landslides, avalanches, floods as a result of seaquakes or storms,

\ forest fire resulting from self ignition and etc.

2) Natural catastrophe with an anthropogenic component or cause e.g. the

perman~nt destruction of arable land and grazing land increased heavy

flooding increased incidence of all natural catastrophe resulting from direct

or indirect human interference.

However, environmental immigrants also result from other land of ecological

damage such as destruction through military activities, environmental

contamination, displacement process or the reduction of resources. These

areas are however less researched issues. Hence environment has been an

important element in the movement of human beings from one place to

anothe1 THESIS 304.854 T7375 In

1111111111111111111111111 TH8428

21

Migration involves movement of population from one place to another. There

is a place of origin and a place of destination. The above mentioned man

environment relationship is prior to the movement or a cause for movement.

The following deals with the man environment relationship after the

movement or at the place of destination. The reason for migration may or may

not be environment.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF IMMIGRANTS

An implicit element of Malthusianism also underpins another aspect of the

relationship between migrants and the environment, namely the impact of

immigrants on the environment. The impact on the environment of the

immigrants was not given importance in the 1960s rather it was referred to be

a strain on economic development and infrastructure. It was only after the

energy crisis of 1973 that the other energy (firewood) and its crisis brought

environment to the forefront in the study of immigrants. The environmental

impact of migrants/ refugees particularly resulting from their demand for land

and other resources has become and increasing part of the literature on

r~fugees impact on the host? Though it is always an explicit aspect in all

migration yet it has never come under the serious enquiry of researchers. In

order to understand the issue in its totality we got to get into an historical

analysis.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF IMMIGRANTS: AN HISTORICAL

ANALYSIS

Man's mobility has been its greatest advantage over the rest of the animals. He

has used his superiority in all biological aspects to use the environment to its

7 Kullman, T. "The Economic Integration of Refugees in Developing Countries: A Research Model", Journal of Refugee Studies, 1991, 4(1), pp.l-21.

22

benefit either as a part of it naturally or using his skills to modify it. Since the

inception of man as a social animal man has moved into areas and used its

skill to overcome the obstacles created by the environment. The most

important being clearing forest for his mobility and shelter. He has used the

animals for his food, domestication and for other different usages. This is his

first interference into the natural process of the environment and movement of

man on migration. The first absolute correlation between migration and

environmental impact by immigrants is as that of a 'nomadic pastoralist'. The

'nomadic pastoralist' is termed as such because they moved from place to

place (nomads) in search of new pastures for their livestock and cattle

(pastoralist). This in turn signifies that the nomadic pastoralist migrated from

one place to another in search of pastures and their livestock and cattle used

the natural pastures for fodder, which instead cleared grasslands, forests. This

was the first impact. This was a negative impact as it led to the destruction of

natural land cover by an unnatural interference of man. There have been

incidences of land erosion and heavy forest destruction. To exemplify, the

movement of gypsies of Rajasthan moving all over the Central Asia to West

Asia and farther. Then also there were certain rules followed to conserve the

environment. A pasture used one year was not used subsequently in the next

J"ear but was allowed to recuperate itself, and it was used only after it was

restored properly. This has been discussed in a paper titled 'Roots of

Environmental Destruction'.

Similar kind of human activities have been seen since the diffusion of

innovation, trans culturalism and acculturalism which have been products of

migration of human beings. Such effects affect the environment, which are

impacts caused by migration. The usage of iron weapons, harpoons to kill

whales and seals by the Eskimos is a product of the migration of human

beings from the Bering Strait both towards the west into Alaska as well as the

Siberian part of Eskimo civilisation in the east. This has been explained in a

work titled "Migration in Prehistory".

23

Technology as an aspect of innovation, and further the evolution of the

economic man and industrialisation, the environmental impact of such

immigrants has been massive. Industrialisation brought the world closer and

made it smaller with the migration of human population to less populated and

more resourceful area was optimum. The American Continent became the

important destination of mass exodus from Europe. The whole development

of Americas into a present day developed world is a result of the impact of the

immigrant in that place. Environment of the America was relatively

undisturbed till the mass exodus from Europe. It was only after the forests

were cleared, unrestricted exploitation of resources, war and etc. have put a

great impact on the environment. The unrestricted felling of the evergreen

forests of Amazon Basin are a suitable example for South America and the

settleqent of European community all over the present day United States of

America is another.

Colonialisation is another historical context to explicitly exemplify the

consequences on the environment by immigrants. The European again in the

late medieval period in search of virgin markets did use the whole of Africa

and Asia for dumping their products as well as for the usage of raw materials

available there. Raw materials in terms of certain agricultural produce as well

as mineral resources have been used. The immigrants exploited the

environment to their benefit because of their economics and technological

superiority. The Plantation agriculture in Asia is a product of this. Rubber

plantation in South East Asia (Malaysia), the Indigo cultivation in India are

examples of this. Tea plantation in China and India are all examples of the

impact of immigrants on environment. Forests were cleared and the locales

were used by the immigrant for this purpose. Migration of labour and their

usage in all these purposes are also evident in historical texts. They may be

examples of transculturalisation yet the impact created on the environment are

basically the diffusion of innovation (economic and technology) by the

24

immigrants. The second part is the exploitation of mineral resources. Examples

can be cited from all over central and southern Africa where forests were

cleared, urban centres were set up for the extradition of mineral resources by

the immigrants.

This is a brief analysis of the historical perspective of the environmental

impact of immigrants. The process does continue in the present day society

also, trends may have reversed where migration is more from underdeveloped

countries to developed countries and underdeveloped countries to other

undeveloped countries. Change in place creates a new dimension to the man

environment relationship and this change may be attributed to the addition of

immigrants to the already existing population. Basing on this concept, an

analysis of the present day impact by immigrants can be researched upon.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF IMMIGRANTS

The logical reasoning is straightforward, immigrants create a sudden sharp

increase in the population density, this creates a strain on the host

communities, which cannot withstand the pressure on resources.

Deforestation occurs as immigrants seek out firewood and shelter materials,

grazing land becomes denuded as immigrants' herds strain the carrying

capacity of the region, water resources cannot support greatly increased

utilisation and become polluted and depleted, and there is garbage and other

waste accumulation around the zone of immigrant shelter.8 In addition in case

of refugees who are also immigrants, they are seen as exceptional resource

degraders as a consequence of their poverty, short time horizons lack of local

environmental knowledge and traumatised psychological status.9

8 Black R. 1994. Forced Migration and Environmental Change the Impact of Refugees on host Environment. Journal of Environmental Management 42, pp.261-277. 9 Myers, N. Environmental Refugees: How Many Ahead? Pro Summe, December - Refugees Environmental Impact: The effect of patterns of settlement - Karan Jacobsen. Journel of Refugee Studies, Vol.IO, No.I, 1997, pp.l9.

25

However, at times the immigrants are blamed for the damage that they did not

cause, or it is not really damage at all, projects and research can fail to address

the actual cause of environmental problems. This is also the case in

development policy more generally and programmes and programmes to

improve natural resource use have often themselves caused environmental

damage.lD

It may also be taken into consideration that it is not necessary that the

immigrants are a burden on their local hosts, they can also make a positive

contribution to the economy in the areas where they are settled. Example can

be cited of Mozambicans settled in Ukwimi in South East Zambia.11

Hence, it would be too unethical to suggest that immigrants are always a cause

of environmental degradation at the point of their destination. It could be the _:;;,;

immigrants, it could be the local population, and it could be the local

Government, the International agencies also. The immigrants may also have a

positive impact on the local economy. Hence, this paper intends to use

'Environmental impact'. Environmental impact simply refers to the process of

change that occurs with respect to forests, soil, water and sanitation. As beauty

lies in the eyes of the beholder similarly environmental degradation/impact \

lies in the eyes of the researcher.

In order to understand the process of change on the impact of the immigrant

on the environment, a step by step factor analysis is important. The first step

towards analysing it is the population movement as immigrants accrue from

the movement of population.

10 Horowity, M. Donors and Desats: The Political ecology of destructive development in Sahel: Paper presented at the symposium on desertification and development, IV AES Congress, Yugoslavia, July 1988. 11 Hall Raymond, Crisip Jeff and Rodnay- Cao Maria Edt. Refugees and the Local Economy in Zambia in the State of World Refugees in Search of Solution. Oxford University Press for UNHCR, New York, 1995.

26

Population

It can easily be said that there is an effective increase in the population of the

place of destination in the process of migration. It may be clearly noted that

the availability of natural resources doesn't undergo any change. The usage of

the natural resource increases as the population using it before the influx is

increased. The man environment relationship undergoes a change. This

change can be attributed to the fact that for the basic needs of human survival

man has to undergo some interaction with the environment. This interaction

may be in the form of new settlement, employment, land use patterns,

sanitation, infrastructural development and other basic amenities. Another

question, which has generally not been raised by researchers, is the impact of

the migration on the place of origin. Considering the Tibetan movement from

Tibet to the rest of the world it can be said that, the Tibetans moved away from

Tibet which now has a great number of Chinese immigrants in it. The impacts

seen there have been the coming up of ghost settlements. Ghost settlements

here refer to rural and urban settlement, which are no longer inhabited by

human beings after the exodus of the population staying there. The non use of

traditional technology and land use pattern has invariably been witnessed in

such places. The natural resources of these places have been left untapped \.

either due to the absence of the population on due to non availability of the

traditional technology to tap the resources. This may cause environmental

imbalances. Changes in occupation structures are noticed and hence a change

in the land use pattern also. With the moving away of population, these areas

generally become dumping grounds or at times used for environmentally

degrading activities such as the test explosion of nuclear materials in Tibet.

Less pressure on natural resource may also occur due to the incidence of

population decrease. These are few of the impacts felt on the environment of

the place of origin of migration chiefly caused due to the movement of the

existing population.

27

In order to analyse the impact of this population on the country of destination;

we have to understand the man environment relationship among the factors

already mentioned. The first in the order is the place of stay or the pattern of

settlement.

Pattern of Settlement

There are a variety of migration patterns with a variety of pull and push

factors preceded by a decision making process. In this process of decision

making the destination is also decided. The destination may be an urban area

or a rural area. In case of forced migration the destination may not be decided

but the movement is decided hence the place of destination may be any urban,

rural or an eco-sensitive zone also. The settlement pattern is a consequent

factor. The settlement pattern otherwise puts an environment impact. We

analyse the settlement pattern and their impact on the environment under the

following heads.

Urban Immigrants and Settlement Pattern

The immigrants into urban areas get settled in a variety of ways. The ones who

have the least environmental impact are the ones who are diffused into the

'urban area and don't have a specific locality which can be called an immigrant

dominated area. They are basically the economically well off immigrant who

are skilled in their profession and get settled in the urban areas. The impacts

they have on the environment are diffused with the already existing

population. It is hence difficult to analyse their impact on the environment

specifically. In fact the text available in this regard is very less. It is also

difficult to infer from those texts and researches conducted.12

12 There are growing number of urban refugees in Africa notably in Sudan where there were over a greater of a million urban refugees in 1982 (FN I). The importance of refugees as a component of the wider urbanisation process has been noted in Ethiopia (FN2) and in South East Asia (FN3). (FNI) Rogge, J.R. Urban Refugees in Africa: Some Changing Dimension to Africa's refugee problem, with special reference to Sudan. Migration World 14 (4), 1986, pp.7-13. (FN2) Wubreh, M. Population distribution and the urbanisation in the Hom of Africa: an analysis of cultural ism and Government policy. "Regional Development Dialogue", Special Issue, I 988, pp.l29-157. (FN3) Hugo, G. Forgotten refugees. Post war force migration within South East Asian countries: in Rogge, J.R. edited Refugees: a third world dilemma, Totowa, N.J. Rowman and Iettie field, 1987, pp.282-298.

28

The immigrant specific settlement can be classified under the following

categories. Categories classified in this section of the research work are

classification as done in India, but they are true to the whole world especially

to the developing countries where the nomenclature may be different but the

characteristic more or less remain the same. The different categories are:

Slum Notified Area: Where the buildings are not absolutely fit for human

settlement, with faulty arrangement of streets, lack of sanitation, light and

sanitation facility. Garbage and waste disposal facility is absent. These are

areas where concentrated immigrant flow is noticed.

Jhuggi ]hopri Clusters: These are squatter settlement developed due to the

people making into the city seeking entry into the development plans. They

are generally of the low income group. They just accept whatever

accommodation is available to them. There is a tendency of clustering into

places where there is a previous existence of their own clan, or ethnic group.

As is seen in the immigrant colonies of Delhi. A personal survey reveals the

settlement of Bangladesh immigrants in Lajput Nagar and on the bank of

Yam una in Delhi .

Urban Villages: These are already existing slums like condition dwelling inside

the city with similar characteristics the only difference being they pre-existed

to the coming in of the immigrants.

Resettlement Colonies: These are secondary settlement colonies which the local

Government initiates in order to stabilise and develop the standard of living of

the people already living in the previous three categories of the settlement.

The condition may be slightly better than the slum, Jhuggi Jhopris on Urban

Villages. Yet they are not absolutely fit for urban settlement with all the

facilities.

29

Pavement Dwellers: This is the first category of squatter settlement without even

a roof on their head. They are open to the vagaries of the nature. They are the

worst among the immigrants. They are mostly seen in the verandas of

commercial buildings pavement and road side space.

Their impact on the environment may not be for their employment or change

in land use pattern change or depletion of natural resources but their basic

existence itself creates certain environmental problems. Certain requirements

are not met which creates an unhealthy environment. They are

Water Supply: Water for drinking and other domestic uses is perhaps the most

important of the facilities and services that are to be provided for, to create a

healthy environment in any settlement. This is absent. In most of the cases it is

contaminated as the source of water is inadequate and improper. This in quite

a numerous cases has also led to the burst of epidemics. Hence, this an impact

which the immigrants don't create themselves but the existing resources force

the creation of such environmental consequences.

Sanitation: The overall sanitation of the whole urban area becomes poor as the

population increase is unplanned and uncalled for. The infrastructural

resources eventually fall short due to the increase in population, especially the

water supply, electricity, sewerage system, garbage collection and waste

disposal system loose their efficiency leading to negative environmental

consequences. This necessarily does not affect the immigrant settlements only

but also affect urban area in general.

Garbage: Garbage is generally collected from private households, streets and

lane cleaning, construction sites, waste bins in localities and industries. The

quantity of this increases with the influx of the immigrants. The existing

30

infrastructure becomes inadequate owing to the growth, hence negative

environmental impact.

Drainage: The drainage system is inadequate and these settlements generally

do not have a proper drainage system. In quite a few occasion these

settlements come up in areas which are low lying and were not inhabited

earlier because of poor drainage facility as has been seen in Delhi.13

Health and pollution: These settlements are located in areas generally where

level of population is high without any defence against it. The movement of

population is generally to industrialized and growing cities as the availability

of employment is high. These cities are more prone to pollution. The above

mentioned factors and other infrastructural inadequacies create a negative

impact on the population surviving in th~ above mentioned localities which

has a negative impact on the health. Epidemic such as Jaundice, Malaria,

Diarrhoea, Tuberculosis and etc. are common. These are few of the impact

created by the immigrants in urban area though not directly caused by them

but in course of their presence in specific settlement pattern.

~he rural settlements of immigrants are different from the urban settlements

causing a wide variety of environmental impact both direct and indirect

impact which is studied in the following part.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF IMMIGRANTS IN RURAL SETTLEMENT

The immigrants are settled in two basic ways in the rural areas. One way of

settlement is the self settlement amongst local communities, where they are

not only recognised or registered (as in case of refugees) often receiving

unofficial support from the local people in terms of housing, food habits, and

rented land. This kind of settlement is spontaneous. The second type is mostly

13 AI Sabir ; Environment and Resettlement Colonies of Delhi, Har-Anand Publication, New Delhi 1995, pp.22.

31

applicable to the forced migrants or refugees. These are basically different

types of camps and organised settlements where they are registered and

receive official assistance. One type of organised settlement is the emergency

relief camps and reception centres which are temporary and subsequently

permanent fixtures which remain populated for many years.14 The other type

is the organised agricultural settlements, which were developed by UNHCR

and host Governments basically in the 1960s as an alternative camp.1s The self

settled immigrants and the organised settled immigrants create different

environmental changes. They need to be analysed differently. The majority of

the receiving communities are agricultural based, there has been little

investigatiol) as to the way in which type of settlement affects the environment

most.16 Only general impressions are offered, that environmental damages can

result from different types of migration depending on the specific context_17

Self-Settled Immigrants

The environmental impact of self settled refugees are more difficult to

determine and even less studied. Yet there are few research works conducted

which reveat increased rates of deforestation are likely when fallow or forest

land is cleared to build dwellings and to create new agricultural land. They are

fnore likely to carry their livestock along with them where overgrazing can

lead to loss of seedlings and browse trees, especially where herders prune

trees and shrubs to assist animals in their foraging. However, this relationship

is not easy to substantiate, as range degradation is not an inevitable

consequence.18 The increase in rural population raises the need for more

arable land hence semiarid and even hilly terrain will be more heavily used

14 Jacobsen Karen - Refugees Environmental Impact: the effect of pattern of settlement. Journal of Refugee Studies, Vol. I 0, No. I, I 997, pp.2 I -22. 15 Kireab G. Integration of refugees in first countries of asylum: past experiences and prospects for the 1990's paper commissioned by the programme in international and US refugee policy, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Tefls University, Medford, Massachusetts, 1991. 16 Kireab G. The State of the art review of refugee studies in Africa, Uppsala Papers in Economic history research rept. No.26, Uppsala, 1991. 17 McGregor, J. "Refugees and the environment, in Black, R. and Robinson, II (eds) Geography and Refugees. Patterns and Processes of Change Belhaven Press London, 1993, pp.I57-I67. 18 Jacobsen Karen. (2), pp.25.

32

either for cultivation or grazing. Subsequently, the subsistence needs will

reduce fallow periods and acreage there by increasing the likelihood of soil

degradation.19 This may lead to fallen crop yield, weeding and pest infestation.

Environmental degradation also occurs when common property resources are

used in uncontrolled and unsustainable ways. Access to and tenure of

common property resources are governed by customary rights and collective

arrangements in the community. They govern how, when and who should use

the resource backed or enforced by religious beliefs or legal sanctions. The

Government may have to play a role too. Some are treated as open access

which may lead to environmental degradation both by the immigrants as well

as the locales, as was seen in the Pakistan Afghanistan border where the local

Pakistanis broke the prevailing system of managing forests and there was

marss deforestation of the forests in the area. The influx of immigrants may also

witness the break in such customs and tradition of common property resource

management.

On the contrary certain practices by the immigrants which are

environmentally beneficial may be obstructed by the local community, as it is

a break in the traditional system. This was witnessed in the planting of

perennial trees in certain Sahel region in Africa was not allowed as it was seen

by the local community as an attempt to ·assert individual permanent right

over land by the immigrants. Local community and immigrant interaction

may result in environmentally productive practices also. In cases where

advanced and more environmentally friendly agricultural techniques were

inculcated by the locals from the immigrants.

19 Bascom, J. The peasant economy of refugee resettlement in Eastern Sudan, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 83(2), 1993, pp.321-346.

33

The environmental impact by the self settled immigrant communities may be

negative in a majority of cases but there are occasions when their impact has

been more environment friendly.

Organised Settlements of Refugees

The impact that the immigrants in organised settlements put on the

environment is mostly similar in nature but vary in the degree due to the

concentration of the population in a small area. The basic logic is the impact

can be contained in a small area rather than it being spread all over the

receiving region. Inputs such as food, fuel alternatives might reduce the

pressure on the local environment. Yet an initial problem is the start up cost

where partial deforestation takes place after the appropriation of land,

evidences suggest that in semi arid areas, an already degraded area such as the

Dadaab complex in Kenya there are significant ecological consequences

associated with the clearance of land for camps. Although isolation is claimed,

still irregular and insufficient relief deliveries force the immigrants to depend

on the local environment for its basic needs. Hence, concentrated and localised

increase in demand can lead to rapid degradation. The problem compounds

itself as the supply of firewood, thatching grass or water declines and these \

resources become to be treated as commodities. More problems accrue if the

immigrants have domesticated animals with them though rarely it occurs. In

agricultural settlements specifically the land is generally insufficient for the

immigrants, hence intensive cultivation, less fallow period and consequently

environmental degradation. In case of legal title to land being not permitted to

immigrants the lack of incentive to care about long-term fertility or range

viability increases the incidence of soil degradation.

In order to control disease carrying vectors such as rats, mosquitoes, and other

parasites, accumulation of toxic residue in soil and water as well as human

beings and animals is also seen due to the usage of insecticides and

34

pesticides.2o Waste disposal is another problem, camps generate large

quantities of packaging materials, human and medical waste and waste water

which is inappropriately disposed of can lead to pollution or become breeding

sites for vectors. These problems even stay on after the camps are vacated.

Water accessibility is another big problem, being constructed under

emergency condition careful planning of these camps on organised settlements

are impossible. Impact assessment is not possible under such condition; wells

may be dug before the aquifer that feed is assessed resulting in over rapid

depletion rates and/ or a decline in water quality. These kind of problem

occurs to each and every natural resources and the nature of human settlement

in such cases being human centric the environment is never given any

. importance leading to quite a few irreversible problems. The movement in

many cases also is to eco-sensitive areas. It is essential to analyse such cases in

particular.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF REFUGEES ON ECO-SENSITIVE AREAS

At times the destination point is so decided that it remain just an escape route

from the point of origin, the gains in terms of development is not seen. This is .. mostly witnessed amongst the forced immigrants. There haye been numerous

incidences where the immigrants have come and settled in environmentally

sensitive areas. The best example that can be cited of such a case is the

settlement of Rwandan refugees in Zaire and their settlement in the periphery

of the Virunge National Park of Zaire. These settlement of immigrants has

caused i!reversible damage to the global bio diversity which is a UNESCO

world heritage site. According to one UNHCR survey some 800,000 kilogram

of wood and grass were being collected from the park by refugees each day in

December 1994, a level which evidently cannot be sustained if the unique flora

20 Gurman, S. Refugees and the environment UNHCR accession paper, October 22, 1994, personal conservation with Karen Jaiobson in refugees environmental impact. The effect of pattern of settlement JRS Vol.lO, No., 1997.

35

and fauna found in this area are to be conserved.21 The extent of degradation

went upto an extent that the Zairian army has orders to shoot Rwandan

refugees entering the park.22 A similar case has been seen in the Himalayan

Kingdom of Nepal. In 1995, the number of Bhutanese refugees in Nepal were

85,000 and much more who have come into the country after that and yet a lot

more who are undocumented consume around 400 kilograms per capita per

annum of fuel wood. Nepal being a hilly region, forests have been a major

resource as well as the most important balancing factor in maintaining the

fragile mountain ecosystem.23 As explained earlier the degradation of the

environment due to the clearance of the forest for the initial settlement of

refugees in the Dadaab complex in Kenya which was already a degraded

region; a semi arid and environmentally sensitive region. Similarly, the

settlement of Bangladeshi immigrants in the Mangroves of Mahanadi and

Brahmani in the Eastern part of India have caused extensive environmental

degradation. The mangroves being environmentally sensitive and they also

fall in the annual cyclonic courses, the clearing of forests now cause extensive

damage to the peripheral region also.

The above three examples infer that the need of the immigrant and the existing

:tesources at the point of destinatio~ decides the environmental impact of the

immigrants. The man environment relationship is at a very rudimentary stage

in most of the cases as the immigrant do not migrate with their belongings nor

do they transfer their know how immediately. At least for the initial period

they depend totally on the environment for their survival. Most of the

immigrants use their skill, which are directly or indirectly dependent on the

physical environment causing irreversible damage. Another reason that can be

attributed here is the sense of non-belongingness, which allows them to

exploit the natural resources to their fullest capacity and capability. Above all

survival techniques are so poor in immigrant affected areas that survival

21 Hall Raymond (2) pp.i66. 22 Jacobsen Karen. (3), pp.28. 23 Hall Raymond (3) pp.l64.

3~

becomes important rather than the environment. Survival comes first even if it

means surviving in high-risk areas prone to wild animals, hostile environment

as well as disease prone areas. Under such circumstances where the

immigrants have settled down in environmentally sensitive areas the damages

are severe and irreversible. This is a phenomenon seen all over the world may

be with few exception.

It has been noticed in the previous sub-section that settlement as such is not

the only degenerating or impact creating factor on the environment, it is the

man environment relationship in total which creates the impression of the

man living in the environment. Hence, it becomes necessary to analyse all the

factors and major areas of interaction with the environment. They may be

discussed under the following heads.

EMPLOYMENT

Survival is the most important aspect of man's living immediately after they

find themselves a place to settle down even if they have a shelter to stay or

even if they do not have a roof on their heads. Employment comes next in the

priority of the immigrants after they reach their destination. It is generally

notiCed that immigrants do not get along with themselves their whole

household. They just get in the basic needs and settle down. Skill is the most

important element that they get with themselves, their skill either to adopt to

the new environment or the skill to make the new environment adopt to it.

Hence, the physical environment falls prey to the direct impact of the

immigrants. Analysing on the basis of the rural and urban immigrants.

In fact the impact that the immigrants create on the environment in the urban

area because of his employment is less. The impact is indirect in general. In

case of the urban employed immigrant, it is mostly diffusion into the existing

infrastructure. It is the need of the urban area for which the immigrants come

in basically. Immigrants are mostly sources of cheap labour. Cheap because

37

their survival needs makes them work at a cheaper rate than the local workers

do. They are mostly in the unskilled work force even in the unorganised

sector. The indirect process in which this affects the environment is due to the

very presence of the employment opportunity that the immigrant moves into

the urban area. It is the employment like construction sites, unorganised and

unskilled labour in small scale labour oriented industries, which pulls the

population to create more pressure on the environment of the urban area. This

is seen in almost all the urban areas which host immigrants. The second

possible impact could be the increase in those employment opportunities,

which the immigrants cater to most desired for their low wages. There are a

number of such employment avenues, which create a negative environmental

impact on the urban areas.

On the contrary it is noted that the kind of job the immigrants do in the host

urban area at times benefit the local environment. For example the immigrants

from Eritria in the Sudanese town of Kasala have set up services especially in

the field of education and health which has a direct impact on the

environment.24 The immigrants engage themselves in wage labour. They are

into horticulture, hotels, and domestic wages. Certain specific services like taxi

services (Punjabi in United States and Canada), tailoring (Bangladeshis in \

Delhi). They are into certain areas of employment which the locales do not

venture into, most specifically into rag picking. All these employment avenue

do not create any direct negative impact on the environment. On the other -hand, they at times have a positive impa·d like the domestic helps keep the

houses clean and rag pickers help in keeping the alleys and the other areas

clean. Hence, the impact of urban employed immigrants have both negative as

well as positive impact on the environment.

The rural refugees have some direct impact on the environment. Agriculture

and other primary occupations being predominant in the rural areas, the

impact of the immigrants on the environment is more direct. This is visible

38

from the examples below. A study conducted on the Eritheans in the dryland

zone around Kasala shows that the majority of the population was involved in

agriculture. With the increase in population when the better land around the

stream ran out, the more marginal lands were used. A drought broke out in

1980 for four years. This created such an impact on the environment that

agriculture became a secondary form of income. This suggests the harshness of

the exploitation of the environment due to the influx of immigrant

population.25 The environment under thick bush is now barren. There is not

one tree left and in rainy season also it remains yellow. The influx has

undeniably played a very important role as the natural growth of the local

population as well as the increase in sedentary life of the earlier semi nomadic

Sudanese population has aggravated the situation.26 The effects of

concentration of people can also be a problem for agricultural settlements

because population expansion and insufficient land and restricted areas

available put more pressure on the land decreasing the fallow period

intensifying the process of soil and land degradation.

The usage of environmentally sensitive areas for their form of livelihood has

also seen the degradation of such areas. Felling and sale of timber, a major

source of income in such sensitive areas, increases the rate of environmental \.

degradation. Herds and domestic animals and livelihood earning from them

has also been a source of environmental degradation as has been seen due to

pruning of trees and grazing of herds animal. 27

It has mostly been noted all over Africa as well as Asia that the rural

immigra~ts mostly involve themselves in agricultural practices. They increase

the rate of consumption of the local area, hence there is a needed increase in

the production. This reduces the fallow period and increases the usage of

24 Kok Walter - Self settled refugees and the socio-economic impact of their presence on Kasala, Eastern Sudan. Journal ofRefugee Studies, Vol.2, No.4, 1989, pp.432. 25 ibid, pp.424. 26 ibid, pp.424-425. 27 Bell, R.H. V. Conservation with a human face: conflict and reconciliation of African Land use planning in Anderson, D and Grove, R (eds) Conservation in Africa: People's Policies and Practice. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987.

39

agricultural land. Further the immigrants either work as labourers or are given

land on lease for agricultural purpose or they reclaim unused land for

agricultural purposes. On all these occasions, it can be inferred that certain

forested land have been cleared of forest and are now used for agricultural

purposes which has both negative impact (mostly) as well as _positive

environmental impacts which is rare.

Inferred from cases of immigrant occupation there are evidences of negative

impact on the environment. For example the killing and selling of animal meat

and skin for survival has led to the decrease in the fauna of immigrants

destination zone as is seen in the Bangladesis dominated region of the

Mangroves in India. Fishing techniques have also created negative impact

here. Smuggling is another aspect especially cases of timber smuggling across

the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan have been observed. Cases of

smuggling of turtles have been observed across the Indo-Bangladesh border.

Certain cases of induced environmental impact have also been observed. This

is through the increase in the usage of certain needs of the immigrants have

led to the change in occupation pattern of the local population. For example

cutting of bamboo trees in Zambia by Zambian to trade with the Mozambicans , in Zambia.28 The need of fuelwood by the immigrants have at times initiated

rampant cutting of trees by the locales as it was an easy way of earning money

which had a good demand with the immigrants. In the vice versa when the

immigrants were short of food and other means of livelihood, timber sale

became a source of easy income for them. This even reduced the price of the

fuel wood increasing the consequent use of fuel wood.29

These are cases of environmental degradation where as certain cases of

environmentally positive impact have also been witnessed. For example the

agricultural settlement of Mozambicans in Zambia has led to a cohesive host -

28 Hall Raymond (4) pp.168. 29 Jacobsen Karen. (4), pp.24.

40

immigrant relationship, which has reduced the negative environmental impact

with an environmentally friendly agricultural and economic practice.

Horticultural practices by the Eritrean in Sudanese Gash Delta as labourers

have contributed to the horticultural practices in the area. It has been able to

resettle the Eritrean immigrants from the dryland zone as well as the Kasala

town region without causing any negative impact on the environment.3°

Hence a regulated understanding by the Government and international

agencies do help in revitalising the environment of the immigrant settled areas

as seen in the above two cases. Even restriction of the occupation structure of

the immigrants can create a positive environmental impact. A case may be

cited of the restriction to the Rwandese refugees from entering the Virunge

National Park in Zaire.

Other than these factors, there are certain basic needs of human beings, which

are essential in nature, certain basic amenities, these amenities are also

extracted from the natural environment. The immigrants being human beings

and their basic right to lead a human life lead to certain environmental

consequences. There are a great number of such consequences reported all

over the world at places of immigrant settlement.

BASIC AMENITIES AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT BY IMMIGRANTS

Basic human existence requires certain facilities for its survival, food, shelter

and clothing. Food and shelter are not as simple as they seem to be or what

they require to make one, in fact food and shelter are not just edible material

and a roof respectively. It is a series of interaction with the environment,

which eventually provide food and shelter. This interaction series in case of

immigrants in quite sudden at times and unwarranted at times much beyond

the carrying capacity of the host environment. The basic amenities account for

shelter, settlement, water supply, agricultural land, fuel wood, electricity

3° Kok. Walter. (2) pp.431.

41

minimum hygiene condition, road and transportation and etc. most of these

things are interlinked hence this aspect of environmental impact by the

immigrants needs to be analysed on the rural and urban classification.

Urban Immigrants Basic Amenities and Environmental Impact

Migration into urban areas as explained earlier causes a lot of trouble to the

whole planning institutions especially catering to the need of the incoming

population. The projected growth rates do not generally give the accurate

levels of immigration as they depend on extrogenous factors. Hence, this

incoming population is an unplanned population movement. The town

planners are the ones who provide the basic requirements to the population in

the u·rban locale. This population being out of the plan eventually land up in

areas, which do not come under planned settlement area or even if they do the

pressure on the available basic amenities is much beyond the capacity.

The basic amenities required as well as provided are houses, water supply,

sanitation, source of consumable energy, transportation etc. All these

requirements somehow have a direct or an indirect impact on the

environment. Housing, be it provided or self-made are mostly unplanned as \

explained earlier with poor ventilation system and low standards of

construction making it unsafe of survival. These conditions eventually make

the environment unsustainable as they are unplanned and take away all the

available space inside the urban area which were left unused for other

purposes like, parks, parking place, etc. Sometimes they were left just unused

to work as breathers or balancing factors to the already existing concrete

jungle which itself is a source of pollution and degradation.

Water source is the most important aspect for the urban survival as it is

regulated through the supply system of the urban area. Hence any unplanned

population growth would eventually put a lot of pressure of on the existing

supply. Water becomes a commodity in such cases. Most importantly

42

collection and storage of water become important and improper processes and

methods eventually become hazardous. The source of water being less, the

population finds poorer sources of water, which may not be hygienic, they

may be contaminated with other pollutants also. The methods of collection are

generally poor leaving greater opportunity for the growth of organisms that

create epidemic in such areas. The storage methods of water used are not

scientific enough and are often stored for a long period, which may give rise to

micro-organisms and eventually water borne diseases. This phenomenon is

seen all over the world in immigrant dominated urban slum and squatter

settlement.

Sanitation, like water supply is also not taken seriously by the population and

goes beyond the existing capacity of the urban planning system. Hence these

areas generally go without proper sanitation facilities. It can be said these

settlement patterns in most of the developing countries do not have space for

personal latrine hence public latrines. These latrines are generally insufficient . '

for the population. Sometime even the adjacent areas are used for defecating,

these places eventually become place for the birth of diseases. Garbage is one

of the important issues in the urban areas. Disposal of garbage is another

P.roblem in such areas, for all kinds of waste disposal including sewerage and

proper drainage system. All these sanitation aspects create a great impact on

the physical environment of the region as well as a negative impact on the

immigrant themselves.

Other requirements like electricity being insufficient and mostly unavailable

the use of the firewood, kerosene and other sources are an important source of

pollution to the already vulnerable urban environment. One of the most

important sources being burning of coal in the South Asian countries.

These are few of the impacts on the environment caused by the inadequacy of

alternative basic amenities required by the immigrant population into urban

areas. The urban experience is more concentrated and the impact of the

43

changed environmental condition is felt more on the immigrant themselves

where as the impact that the immigrant put on the rural environment is

disastrous and in most of the cases irreversible causing damage to themselves

as well as the whole biodiversity as such.

Rural Immigrants, Basic Amenities and Environmental Impact

The rural immigrants are more prone to causing a negative environmental

impact in search of basic amenities like fuel wood, water supply, shelter

material, sanitation and etc. in fact in all the available literatures of immigrants

settled in rural areas the greatest impact that they have put on the

environment is on the forest resource. Deforestation has been a major concern

in this area. Initial clearance basically in the non-ecumene and at times

inaccessible area leads to deforestation, eventually building material is also

procured from forest products. Timber and thatching materials lead to

deforestation. Wood is generally used as a source of fuel for all varieties of

needs of time, warming, cooking and other economic usage. Firewood is the

source of energy, wood at times is also used for other purposes. In fact it has

also been seen that the local population also joins in the process of

~eforestation and sell timber and firewood to the immigrants as they are ready

customers and always have a heavy demand. Substantiation of all the above

mentioned thoughts have already been provided. Specifically the Eritrains in

dryland areas around Kasala of Sudan have not left a single bush, they have

used it for their house building materials or as firewood.31 Mention of such

activities has been done by Gurman 1991, UNCHS/UNEP 1994 and Zetter

1995. Evidence to this effect is also seen from Dadaab complex in Kenya.32 The

local community selling fuel wood by deforestation was seen by the Pakistani

local population selling timber to the Afghan refugees and adhering to the

increasing demand elsewhere. Example can be cited from almost all localities.

31 Ibid, pp.425. 32 Jacobsen Karen (5), pp.23.

44

Source of water is another cause of environmental degradation. Water is used

for all purposes like drinking, cooking and also for cultivation. Water becomes

a commodity as it becomes scarce with the increasing population. Water

sources are less and the new water sources that are created also put a burden

on the existing resource base of that area. Contamination is also another kind

of damage caused to the water as well as ground water. Owing to lots of

factors like accessibility of toxic waste to all these resources, poor waste

disposal leads to contamination of water and also over utilisation and poor

sewerage and drainage facilities. Unplanned wells in Tanzania catering to

needs of the immigrants led to the over rapid depletion as well as a decline in

the water quality.33 Another water related impact seen in the coastal areas is

the intrusion of salt water.34 These water supply and utility problems have a

lot of consequent impacts which are irreversible like decrease in the cultivable

lands, growth of epidemic situation, contamination of ground water, soil

erosion and wide range of environmental impact. The water related problems

are important environmental impacts created by the immigrants.

Sanitation comes as an important aspect to this enquiry. Garbage disposal,

waste disposal, drainage, and etc. are areas discussed under sanitation. It can

very well be said that such provisions are either absent in most of the cases or \

if at all available are not enough or properly maintained. Sanitation processes

are not planned in rural areas instead a proper practice evolved through

evolution is generally practised which is conducive to the environment. These

practices are natural and do not generally harm the environment, but with the

influx of a population, which is an unnatural growth in the population, the

rapid increase is not sustained by the existing system. There occurs the change.

The basic amenities available fall short of the actual requirement causing

imbalances and in most circumstance damages. Drainage is something which

is not created immediately especially with the initial influx of the population.

33 Hoerty, T. Refugees and Host environment - a review of current and related literatures, Refugee studies programme, University of Oxford, 1995. 34 State ofWorld, 1995, pp.l63.

45

The waste disposal is also not systematic in these areas. They may be

regulated by agencies or Governments working in certain areas (Refugee

Zones) but otherwise they are not maintained. Hygiene condition of

immigrant induced areas are at the minimum. It has been seen all over Africa

that the immigrant concentrated areas are prone to diseases and epidemic

condition, malnutrition is also seen and the practices done by the community

is also not healthy. Still anecdotal evidence may be cited where the usage of

pesticide and insecticide used by the immigrant population (Refugees here)

created a great problem of toxic residue being seen in animals, human, the soil

and the ground water which is of course a clear environmental degradation or

pollution. This was studied by S. Gurman in 1991. Unscientific disposal of

waste like packaging material, human and residual waste and water can lead

to pollution and breeding grounds for vectors. It is a bigger problem when the

settlement of the immigrants is temporary as in case of refugee camps.

It can here be said that instant supply of basic amenities as well as the need for

such facilities create an environmental change by the immigrants. This change

is mostly negative as the usage of the resource is immediately shared by the

immigrants without any proper defence being created which can easily be

pone with a planned integration of the immigrants into the community.

Another broad aspect that needs clarification is the land use change. It may be

said here that we have discussed the change in the environment as such, with

its direct and indirect consequences. There are consequences, which are not

felt at the place of change but at a far off place. These changes are mostly due

to the change in the pattern of usage pattern of land on the whole.

LAND USE CHANGE AND ITS IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT

Land use change generally refers to the change that occurs in the usage of a

particular land or area. There may be an extrogenous factor contributing to it

or may be more than one factor contributing to the change. The factor into

consideration here is the immigrants. The kind of change that the immigrant

46

inflicts upon a particular area and the effect it creates. As discussed earlier a

series of events take place with the coming in of immigrants. Land is cleared

for settlement or at least land is used for settlement, this eventually is a change

in the land use, the forest is cut and cleared either for road, transportation,

accessibility or sale of timber, usage of timber as fuel wood, house building

material and thatching material. This is also a change in the use of the existing

resource. More area is put under agricultural use that was either fallow

wasteland or under forest cover. This is a major change in the land use pattern.

This creates a great impact on the host environment. The chang~s may be cited

as such. Cleaning of forest for all the purposes mentioned above can lead to

the loss of soil holding canopy eventually leading to soil erosion. The soil

erosion at one point consequently creates soil erosion in the areas nearby and

the process spreads. A study by Walter Kok in Sudan reveals that the base

land, cleared of its bush cover only increased the run off speed of water, the

water's infiltration time in the soil decreased. Streambeds deepened and the

down stream flooding zone (i.e. the best land) became smaller. Over

cultivation and wind erosion damaged the whole area further. These are the

cumulative effect of the land use change of an area, which affects the whole

area.

It may be discussed here that with the change in the land use, the water

resource available for that area is also used more, this is eventually a change.

This change may lead to the loss of ground water or increase in the depth of

the ground water. Contamination of ground water, at times, floods are

consequential to such changes in the land use patterns. Examples of all these

activities and their effects have been researched with Africa as a case study.

Changes in the land use around eco-sensitive areas are a loss to the

biodiversity of the area. This is seen in sub-Saharan Africa as well as the

example Virunge National Park can be cited. These are few of the general

directions where the change in the land use can cause major changes in the

environment, again the negative impact is much more seen than the positive

47

impacts. There are many other changes induced by the immigrants, they may

be micro in nature not affecting the population in general or not a general

event seen across the globe where immigrants are settled.

Another important , aspect of understanding the change induced by the

immigrants is the interaction between the local population, the immigrants

and the management of common property resource.

IMMIGRANT-LOCAL INTERACTION, COMMON PROPERTY RESOURCE

AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

This sub-head may include already discussed impact created by the

immigrants or at least these due to the influx of immigrants. There is a

difference between changes that occur directly by the immigrants and certain

changes that may not be caused by the immigrants but by the local population

themselves, though induced by the immigrants. It may be noted here again

that a series of events take place with the influx of the immigrants, this influx

not only puts an impact on the environment but also on the local population.

These changes may be social, political or economic in nature, but these are

<;:hanges in the man-environment relationship of the local population. There .. '

have been changes in the occupation pattern of the local population, which has

an environmental impact. For example the local population which was not in

favour of cutting trees or clearing forest land starts selling timber to the needy

immigrants by clearing forest, thereby inducing damage. In the Pakistan

Afghanistan border, the local people went on an exploitative deforestation

process absolutely against their earlier social forest management system after

the influx of Afghan refugees. The need for more food grain by the increase in

population leads to the change in agricultural practices, like the decrease in

fallow periods, which in turn reduces the fertility in the soil creating a long­

term damage of the land.

48

Trans-culturalism, which is an effect of the immigration, leads to certain

changes in the local population activities. The locales adapt to new

technologies and ideas, which the immigrant gets with them. These changes

also create an environmental impact. For example, the usage of bamboo for

household articles making was put into the Zambian population by the

Mozambicans, which led to the usage of bamboo. There was also competition

for reed, and game population. The usage of new techniques of vegetable

cultivation was also picked up by the local population, which had positive

impact on the land there. In the Indian sub-continent, also such examples can

be cited about the copying habits of the local from the immigrants basically in

the cropping pattern from the Tibetans and the roof thatcting techniques from

the Bangladeshis.

Another important part of discussion is the common property resource

management, which is also a part of the· host immigrant interaction. In

addition to Government regulation, access to and tenure of common property

resources are governed by customary rights and collective arrangements in the

community. These arrangements take the form of traditional land tenure

system on CPR property management rights. Use rights are generally

governed by local customs concerning how, when and by whom the resource .. · should be used, and the customs can be backed or enforced by religious beliefs

or legal sanction such as fines. Some resources are treated as open access by

locals while others are controlled.35 Degradation occurs when CPR are used in

uncontrolled and unsustainable ways, to exemplify, the rampant deforestation

pattern and eventually the efforts by the host Government to control access to

the State forest and land with laws and regulations are often obstructed.36

However, certain type of communal property arrangements can discourage

environmentally sustainable practices, for example some communal tenure

regimes in Sahel allow a family wishing to plant crops the temporary use of a

35 Jacobsen Kanen (6) pp.28. 36 Allan, NJR. Impact of Afghan refugees on the vegetation resources of Pakistan Hindukush-Himalaya Mountain research and development 7(3 ), 1987, pp.200-204.

49

land. The planting of trees or perennial crops however is seen by the

community as an attempt to assert permanent individual rights over that piece

of land and such practices are therefore avoided. This is a part of a research

conducted by Southgate in 1990.

Hence, common property resource and interaction with the host population by

the immigrants also leave a distinct mark on the physical environment.

This chapter gives ·a brief overview in general as to the interaction between the

man and his environment with the man discussed here being the immigrant

and the environment being the host environment. Immigrants are a

population, which is an unnatural growth, this population creates an impact

on the environment through its direct and indirect interaction. They may be

positive or negative but a change is evident. The change which is discussed in

this chapter is the change that occurs in the environment after the influx of the

immigrants or at least the change in the rate of change of the environmental

impact by the population on the whole. This chapter provides a framework for

the analysis of the problematic further in identifying micro factors as well as

other macro factors, which cause a change in the environment by the refugees.

The forthcoming chapter would take into consideration the immigrants in

India. Namely the Bangladeshis and the Tibetan. The impact that they create

on the environment and the factors responsible.

50