Full Report: Climate Change, Vulnerability and Migration

Climate change and environmental degradation affect people in profoundly different ways depending on their socio-economic class, education, age, gender, race, (dis)ability and other factors. Due to systemic injustices, the poorest and most vulnerable tend to suffer most.

For generations, people in Southeast Asia have migrated in search of better opportunities than they can find at home. As climate change puts ever more strain on rural livelihoods, and many families fall deep into debt, migration may increasingly seem like their only option. Yet when people migrate in distress, research has shown, they often suffer abuse and exploitation. Migration also reshapes and disrupts family relationships. 

This report examines the impacts of labour migration on children in the context of climate change. Through interviews with pre-adolescents and teenagers in six villages in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Viet Nam, as well as young returned migrants, migrant parents and grandparents, it portrays life at the intersection of climate change, poverty, marginalization and injustice. The goal is to shed light on the drivers of migration, young people’s needs and aspirations, and ways for national governments, donors and development partners, and international organizations to make a difference. 

The results will inform the work of World Vision’s East Asia office, which is committed to supporting safe, orderly and dignified migration that upholds the rights, well-being and opportunities of migrants, particularly vulnerable groups such as children. The study focuses on Southeast Asia because it is a dynamic, ethnically and socio-economically diverse region with significant migration and large disparities in human development.