WorldSouth Asia
Up to 40.5 million South Asians may be forced from their homes by 2050, says UN migration chief
Amy Pope of the International Organization for Migration said heat, floods and failing farms were pushing people into cities, and urged governments to act before communities are displaced.
Key points
- The IOM says up to 40.5 million people in South Asia may have to move by 2050 in the worst case.
- Director general Amy Pope said moving is often the first adaptation when crops and livestock fail.
- She said governments should act before communities are displaced, not after.
As many as 40.5 million people in South Asia could be forced to leave their homes by 2050 as the climate changes, the head of the United Nations migration agency has warned.
Amy Pope, director general of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said rising seas, floods, drought and heat were already threatening homes and farmland across the region, and that the first response of many families was to leave. The 40.5 million figure is the agency’s worst-case projection.
“When they can’t produce food, when they can’t feed their livestock, it increases the likelihood of displacement,” Pope said in New Delhi. “The first adaptation is often for people to move.”
Much of that movement is towards cities. “As people seek shelter from heat, they’re going into urban centres,” she said.
The region has had a harsh year. In Nepal, the collapse of a mountain glacier on 26 August set off deadly floods, and the IOM sent humanitarian aid. In Kolkata, commuters waded through flooded streets after heavy monsoon rain on 23 September.
Pope argued that it is cheaper to plan ahead than to clean up afterwards. “The cost of a humanitarian disaster is in the billions,” she said. “If you know a community is at risk, we don’t need to wait until they’re displaced to respond.”
Her warning came days after the 2026 Global Hunger Index put South Asia in the “serious” category, with a regional score of 23.5 against a world score of 18.1.