21st UNFCCC Conference of the Parties or COP21
has just begun. Its THE most important climate summit of our lifetime
where we expect the world to strike a climate deal - one that will be
"gender responsive". On the occasion, I am running
a 2-week blog campaign, connecting the dots among COP21, Climate Change
and Gender
Rina Dash is an undocumented migrant worker in New Delhi. In 2008, she came here from Satkhira district of Bangladesh. There was a cyclone she says, and it destroyed her home and flooded her little farm she says. It was super cyclone Sidr, I learned - a disaster that killed over 3000 people.
After the flood water went down, nothing could be grown on the far, says Rina. So, her husband suggested that they migrate to New Delhi .
Why Delhi? "Because we heard thee was plenty of jobs."
But when they came here, her husband found a job of a rickshaw puller. Rina, when I met her, was a janitor. She was paid as a daily wager. They live in a juggi - a shack made of tarpaulin sheet.
Across New Delhi, there are thousands of undocumented migrant workers like Rina
Rina Dash is an undocumented migrant worker in New Delhi. In 2008, she came here from Satkhira district of Bangladesh. There was a cyclone she says, and it destroyed her home and flooded her little farm she says. It was super cyclone Sidr, I learned - a disaster that killed over 3000 people.
After the flood water went down, nothing could be grown on the far, says Rina. So, her husband suggested that they migrate to New Delhi .
Why Delhi? "Because we heard thee was plenty of jobs."
But when they came here, her husband found a job of a rickshaw puller. Rina, when I met her, was a janitor. She was paid as a daily wager. They live in a juggi - a shack made of tarpaulin sheet.
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| Memories of a climate refugee: Rina shows the photos of her relatives who died in the cyclone. She requested me not to show her face as this could lead to her deportation as an illegal migrant |
