Global warming poses major health and economic risks to migrant workers. The record of extreme warming in 2023 has had dire consequences for farmers, construction workers and outdoor workers in general.
Parvana Valiyeva, member of the Milli Majlis, member of the COP29 organizing committee, told “Report”. He noted that outdoor workers face the harshest realities of climate change, including extreme summer and winter seasons, as well as the negative consequences of sandstorms and flooding:
“Millions of workers in the Middle East and Southeast Asia – construction workers, delivery services, street sweepers and others – are among the most vulnerable and most affected groups.
In addition to externalities, migrant workers also face administrative challenges to protect themselves from the effects of climate change. In most countries, no measures are taken to prevent midday work breaks or heat stroke for outdoor workers. From construction workers to plantation workers, outdoor workers continue to work in higher than normal temperatures. Owners of large shopping centers and other public buildings do not allow construction workers to enter most air-conditioned public spaces. Instead, they try to escape the heat by relaxing in parks or various green areas. This situation leads to the health of workers, suffering from sun exposure, skin cancer and respiratory difficulties.”
The deputy pointed out that the Global Climate community, that is, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, climate and environmental activists, recommend recognizing migrants as one of the main community groups affected by climate change:
“It is even proposed to create a coalition of migrant workers as observers at the Convention. Although migrants are in some sense represented in the like-minded “Farmers” NGO group that currently exists in the Convention, the fact that this group is composed mainly of migrants and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It is considered appropriate to involve these issues in COP discussions. The well-being of communities affected by the current global warming crisis should certainly be a topic. of broader discussion.
Environmental degradation as a result of conflict is one of the main factors that have a negative impact on migration. In the 1990s, Azerbaijanis from Karabakh, Eastern Zangezur and Western Azerbaijan were forced to migrate to other areas of the country as refugees and internally displaced persons. Despite the liberation of Karabakh and eastern Zangezur from occupation, the population could not immediately return to their homes, the territories were looted, destroyed, trees felled, cultural heritage destroyed, rivers, vegetation and the environment polluted. environment were destroyed during the Armenian occupation. The amount of material damage is measured in hundreds of billions. Land mining, the impact of the mine on the environment when it remains in the ground and its explosion create other terrible environmental degradations. “These are all environmental factors that prevent people from freely returning to their homeland.”
According to P. Valiyeva, when people who have emigrated return to their homeland, they see their house in ruins, razed, and they do not find the place where they lived, nor the residential facilities, at the same time. It has a negative effect on the mental health and psychological state of immigrants:
“These people, who remember their houses, their streets and the area in which they lived as they always left in their memory, when they return they witness a different scene: monuments, streets, mined houses.”
