South Asia is living through a climate migration crisis before it has built a policy language to manage it. Every year, floods, cyclones, river erosion, drought, heat waves, and rising seas push people away from their homes. Some move temporarily after a disaster. Others leave permanently because farming becomes impossible, fishing declines, water turns saline, or homes disappear into rivers and coastlines. Yet most governments still treat this movement as an emergency issue, rather than a long-term question of development, security, urban planning, and regional cooperation.

The data already shows the scale of the problem. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre reported that disaster displacement in South Asia nearly tripled in 2024, reaching 9.2 million movements, the second-highest figure in over a decade. This was not simply an isolated shock, but rather a warning about the future of a region where climate disasters are becoming more frequent and more expensive.

The World Bank has warned that climate change could force 216 million people across six regions worldwide to move within their own countries by 2050. South Asia alone could see as many as 40 million internal climate migrants by mid-century. The same report additionally notes that strong climate action and inclusive development could reduce climate migration by nearly 80 percent. This means migration is not unavoidable at its worst scale. It depends on policy choices made today.

Bangladesh is often treated as the symbol of climate vulnerability, and for good reason. Coastal salinity, river erosion, cyclones, and urban pressure have already transformed patterns of migration from rural areas to cities. But this is not only a Bangladeshi story. Pakistan’s floods, Nepal’s glacial risks, India’s heat stress and coastal exposure, Sri Lanka’s economic and climate pressures, and Afghanistan’s droughts all show that climate mobility is a regional challenge. People move because survival, work, land, and water are no longer secure.

The danger is that South Asia may continue to respond after disasters, rather than planning before displacement happens. Emergency relief is necessary, but it is not enough. A family displaced by a flood needs shelter, food, and medical care. But it also needs land records, school access, employment opportunities, health services, legal identity, and protection from exploitation. When these issues are ignored, displacement becomes a pathway into poverty.

The urban dimension is especially important. Climate migrants often move toward cities that are already overcrowded and poorly planned. Dhaka, Karachi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Colombo, and other urban centers cannot absorb new populations without stronger housing, transport, sanitation, labor, and social protection policies. If cities are not prepared, climate migration will increase informal settlements, unemployment, child labor, gender-based vulnerability, and social tension.

This is why South Asia needs a regional climate mobility framework. SAARC remains politically weak, but BIMSTEC has become more active in recent years. At the 6th BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok in April 2025, member states adopted the BIMSTEC Bangkok Vision 2030, signed an agreement on maritime transport cooperation, and reaffirmed cooperation on disaster management after the Myanmar-Thailand earthquake. These steps are useful, but they must move beyond statements and become practical policy tools.

A regional framework should include five priorities. First, South Asian countries need shared data on climate displacement because governments cannot manage what they do not measure. Second, they need planned relocation policies that protect people’s livelihoods, not just move them from one vulnerable place to another. Third, cities must receive climate migration financing so local governments can expand housing, schools, hospitals, water supply, and jobs. Fourth, migrant workers need legal and labor protections, especially women and children. Fifth, regional early warning systems and disaster response mechanisms must be strengthened across borders.

Climate migration should not be seen as a border threat. It should be seen as a governance test. If states treat displaced people as burdens, the crisis will deepen. If they treat mobility as part of adaptation, they can reduce suffering and prevent instability.

South Asia has often failed to cooperate because of political mistrust. But climate change does not wait for diplomatic comfort. Rivers, storms, heat, and rising seas do not recognize borders. The region must act before climate migration becomes one of the largest unmanaged human security crises of the century.

Acknowledgement

The Institute for Youth in Policy would like to acknowledge Rylan Wang for editing this op-ed.