Federal Minister for Climate Change Dr Musadik Malik on Tuesday called upon Parliament to bring effective legislation for better migration governance, saying the process must be made safe, orderly and transparent in view of increasing displacement caused by climate-related disasters.
Speaking at a seminar on the role of Parliament in improving migration and migration governance, the minister said Pakistan required a strong legislative framework to deal with the emerging challenges linked to large-scale displacement.
Dr Malik said climate-induced disasters had compelled around 40 million people to relocate during the past five floods. He added that nearly 7,000 people had lost their lives, while about 17,000 others had been injured or permanently disabled.
He said these numbers reflected the massive human cost of climate-related disasters and underlined the need for a comprehensive approach to migration governance. The minister observed that displacement should not be seen only in terms of figures, as it also meant the loss of homes, livelihoods, schools and communities.
Referring to flood-affected families, Dr Malik said children, parents and entire communities had been uprooted, while schools and places of worship had also been washed away.
“When you take each of those as a story and give it a human face, you start to see what displacement means for a person,” he said.
The minister said migration governance had to be strengthened through meaningful legislation, adding that Parliament had a key role in preparing the required legal framework. He said migration should be managed in a way that protected displaced people and kept the process safe, orderly and transparent.
Dr Malik said his remarks mainly focused on climate-induced migration because of his present responsibilities, though migration and displacement could also be examined from security, economic and other perspectives.
He said repeated floods had shown the extent to which climate-related disasters could disturb human lives and force people to leave their homes.
The minister stressed that the rising scale of displacement demanded greater attention from policymakers and legislators. He said mechanisms were needed to respond to the requirements of affected populations.
Dr Malik said Parliament’s role was especially significant in providing the legislative basis for a coordinated and transparent migration governance system.
