Name: Erosion and eviction: Bangladesh’s islanders fight for stability
Uploaded: 2025-11-10T19:48:42.276Z
Duration: 3 min 35 s
Description: As world leaders gather in Brazil for COP30, the shifting sands of northern Bangladesh tell a quieter, more urgent story. On the fragile river islands of the Brahmaputra, families like Nurun Nabi’s are forced to relocate again and again, victims of relentless erosion worsened by climate change.

As world leaders gather in Brazil for COP30, the shifting sands of northern Bangladesh tell a quieter, more urgent story. On the fragile river islands of the Brahmaputra, families like Nurun Nabi’s are forced to relocate again and again, victims of relentless erosion worsened by climate change.

Dhaka

Communities living on river islands, or chars, in northern Bangladesh are experiencing frequent displacement due to accelerating riverbank erosion. Families like that of Nuru Nabi have been forced to move multiple times within a single year, losing homes, farmland, and even ancestral graves to the advancing Brahmaputra River.

Local residents have attempted to mitigate the effects of erosion using geo bags and by establishing volunteer-run schools, but experts warn that climate change and upstream urbanization are intensifying the problem. As global leaders prepare for the COP30 climate summit, Bangladesh's situation underscores the need for increased international support and climate finance to address the growing challenges faced by vulnerable communities.

Erosion and eviction: Bangladesh’s islanders fight for stability

On an overcast morning in northern Bangladesh, 50-year-old Nuru Nabi gazes into the Brahmaputra River as his home is dismantled for relocation. The dwelling was built just a year ago on a fragile river island or char which faces constant erosion. It is the second time the farmer and father of four has had to move in a year. Relocating is like an extra job inherited as locals of this region. We often move two or three times a year but sometimes get lucky and can live in one place for a year. It's been our fate since before the British colonial period. Our ancestors embraced it as do we. Probably future generations will do too as the disaster only increases never lessens. His rice and lentil fields are already gone, claimed by the advancing current of the Brahmaputra which originates in the Himalayas and flows through China, India and Bangladesh. While it and other rivers were once lifelines for millions, they have become unpredictable, eroding land faster than ever before. I may have to relocate from the new location again. Then I will have to beg and pay the landlords for some land in a newly formed char. This is the only way to do it. There is no other way around it. This is unavoidable. Nabi's family isn't alone in this. Further upstream in the district of Kurigram, hundreds of families suffer the same fate. As riverbanks collapse, people not only lose their homes but also their land, crops and livestock. 33-year-old Johorul Ali learned to fight against erosion with the help of geo bags, large sand filled sacks that strengthen riverbanks against erosion. The hardship of the river erosion of victims is unthinkable. Our sorrows are endless. Even our ancestors graves are washed away, taken by the river. Sadly we are unable to keep our final address of rest. Ali and his neighbors also started a primary school run by volunteers for the island's children. By God's grace we managed to stay here for the last three years. We managed to stop erosion on one side but the other side is still washing away. I sincerely hope we will get more geo bags to stop the erosion around the char. Then we can dream of staying here permanently or at least for a few more years. Then we can concentrate on teaching our children. If this char washes away, the school will be gone. Their education will be ruined again. Climate expert Malik Fida-Ekhan, an executive director of the Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services, says the warming climate has worsened an old problem. Climate change has a huge impact in Bangladesh, especially in the riverbank and also the river erosion process. Why? Because riverbank erosion and accretion process triggers by the flow of the water. So if there is a change in the rainfall or if there is any change in the pattern of the flow, so definitely that will be impacting the riverbank erosion and accretion. The second point of the climate change is the urbanization. If there is urbanization in the upstream part of the Jamuna River, so what happened, then the quantum of the sediment, the flow will also increase. As the world's eyes turn to Brazil, which hosts the COP30 climate summit from Monday, Bangladesh's struggle offers a sobering message for world leaders. While the country is often praised as a model of resilience, without stronger international support and climate finance, its efforts are likely to fall short.

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