IDMC-ADB report: southwest monsoon lasting longer, displacing millions in South Asia

September 20, 2022

The recently released joint report of the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) raised concerns regarding long southwest monsoon causing large-scale displacement of masses in South Asia.

Key findings

The report found that southwest monsoon is lasting longer than its season and overlapping with the northeast monsoon, causing more severe downpour, flooding and storms in South Asia.
While the southwest monsoon reached the peninsular India on time, it had stayed beyond seasonal boundary of September.
In 2021, it had lasted until October, overlapping with the northeast monsoon
This report assessed the forced movement within a country boundary and displacement due to natural disasters during the period of 2010-21.
It found that disasters displaced about 61.4 million people in south Asia during this period. of this, 58.6 million were displaced because of weather-related disasters.
Floods and storms caused about 90 per cent of the total displacement.
Floods caused the displacement of 37.4 million and storm, including major tropical cyclones, caused 21 million internal displacements.
El Nino Southern Oscillation variation has played a major role in the increased instances of flooding and storms.
Climate change is also causing prolonged and unpredictable monsoon seasons.
In the overall Asia-Pacific region, about 225 million individuals were displaced during the 2010-2021 period.
This means that nearly 19 million people were displaced because of disaster each year.
This is more than 75 per cent of the total global figure on displacement.
95 per cent of all disaster displacements in Asia Pacific are caused by monsoon rains, floods and storms.
The disaster displacement risks are mainly worsened by rapid urbanization, socioeconomic vulnerability and population growth in hazard-prone areas.

About IDMC

Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) is an international non-governmental organization based in Geneva, Switzerland. It was established in 1998 by the Norwegian Refugee Council – a humanitarian NGO that works towards protecting rights of people who are displaced.

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