Migrant crisis.

These are phrases we’ve heard A LOT — and in some iteration or another, they’re phrases that we as humans have heard for basically as long as we’ve had the language to communicate.

In a world as large, diverse, and unequal as ours, migration is and always will be a fact of life. 

But what is a migrant exactly? And what do migrants have to do with clowns?

Glad you asked! Step right up and join the CWB clowns on a whirlwind tour of all things migration: 

• Migrant definition
• Reasons for migration
• Facts about migration
• Giving migrants love and laughs
• FAQs about migration

For the impatient readers among us (), here’s a little spoiler alert: Migrants are people who deserve to be seen!

Migrant Definition: Not What But Who

In a world as interconnected as ours, we hear about “migrants” all the time. (Hence the intro to this very post!) 

But did you know that there’s no legally accepted definition for this term? 

According to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM), the word “migrant” is currently undefined under international law. So let’s start with a few everyday definitions instead.

What Is a Migrant?

“One that migrates, such as a person who moves regularly in order to find work, especially in harvesting crops” – Merriam-Webster Dictionary

“A person who attempts to permanently relocate to a new country, but who may be subject to removal by the government of that country” – Dictionary.com

“Any person who is moving or has moved across an international border or within a State away from his/her habitual place of residence, regardless of (1) the person’s legal status; (2) whether the movement is voluntary or involuntary; (3) what the causes for the movement are; or (4) what the length of the stay is.” – United Nations Migration Agency (IOM)

Which Migrant Definition Resonates with You?

Comparing the three definitions above, an interesting point of difference comes to light. 

The first definition emphasizes work as one of the primary reasons for migration​. The UN definition of migrant is the most expansive — including all people who have moved for any reason.

Which definition aligns with what you’ve heard about migrants in popular culture and the media?

Because so much human migration stems from income loss and the need to replace that income to feed families, it’s easy to equate migrants with migrant workers. 

But 1) that isn’t necessarily the case and 2) there’s a danger associated with assuming all migrants move for work. 

If we only view migration as solely driven by work, we overlook other important factors that influence migration.

One Layer Deeper: The Connotations of “Migrant”

There’s a lot more to the concept of “migrant” than what appears in Merriam-Webster, and unfortunately, many of these connotations are negative.

The negative train of thought, consciously or subconsciously, goes something like this: If migrants are people who seek better, then they come from somewhere worse. And they don’t just come from somewhere worse, but they themselves ARE somehow worse. They must be…

• Lower (-class, -income, -socioeconomic status, etc.)
• Less (-developed, capable, trustworthy, etc.)
• Outsiders
• Foreigners
• Others

These ideas give rise to many of the additional challenges faced by migrants along their journeys, such as xenophobia and discrimination.

The bottom line: it’s easy to agree on the dictionary definition of migrant, but it’s harder to move beyond the words and see migrants for WHO they are: not a faceless group of “different” but a collection of individual human beings.

We should be asking the question, “Who is a migrant?” — not what!

Why Do Migrants Leave Their Country? Common Reasons for Migration

Let’s look not at WHAT is a migrant…but WHO are migrants. 

When and why do people become migrants?

Here’s a non-exhaustive list of why people migrate:

• Hunger
• To earn an income (and send remittances)
• To learn another language
• Work opportunities
• To gain access to different education or services
• To join family members who have already migrated
• To flee dangers of bodily harm, such as gang violence or terrorism
• To escape political crises, such as coups or government corruption
• To build a new home after a natural disaster (like the 2023 earthquake in Turkey)
• To seek relief from a climate-related disaster 
• To pursue freedom from persecution
• To find safety from war or other conflict

Some of these reasons for migration would classify a migrant as a “displaced person,” someone who is forced to leave their home. Forced migration can refer to people displaced within their own countries or territories, too!

The trans-Atlantic slave trade is the largest example of forced migration in human history. 

Some displaced people are further classified into categories of “refugee” or “asylum seeker,” which we’ll touch on at the end of this post.

Push and Pull

In answering the question, “Why do people migrate?” historians and demographers often classify the above migration reasons into push factors and pull factors:

• Push factors push people away from their countries of origin (e.g. the threat of violence).
• Pull factors pull people toward their new countries (e.g. new opportunities).

Key Facts About Migration

According to the UN: 

• In 2019, there were almost 272 million international migrants worldwide.
• Of international migrants in 2019, women made up 48%.
• Of those migrants, 38 million were children (roughly 14%).

From the Pew Research Center:

• The region with the fastest-growing international migrant population is Latin America and the Caribbean.
• While migrants can and do move all over the world, many stay relatively local. In 2020, over half of all international migrants (54.9%) stayed in their region of origin.

From the UN Migration Agency:

• 3.1% of the world’s population are migrants.
• Many more people move within countries than across borders.

Giving Migrants Love and Laughs 

To bring this tour to a close, here’s our stance on human migration.

Sure, the word “migrant” is defined by the act of migration — but migrants don’t have to be. Migration is an experience they’ve had, not the sum total of their identity. 

Migrants are people first. 

No matter where they are moving from or why, migrants are (all at once!) living through some of the most challenging experiences that human beings can face:

• Total upheaval of their environment
• Potentially unfamiliar language and customs
• Deep uncertainty regarding legal status, employment, and safety
• Discrimination, exclusion, and personal disdain 
• Institutional and policy-level barriers to successful relocation

In other words, migrants are having a hard time. Even when migration is by choice, the experience can be difficult and lonely; when the migration is forced, those feelings are more inescapable.

That’s exactly why Clowns Without Borders exists: to give migrants and other displaced people a moment of levity. We aren’t making light of their situation. We’re giving them a chance to laugh when they need it most.

Want to Bring Laughter and Play to Migrants?

For just $11, you can sponsor a migrant child to attend a Clowns Without Borders show! Donate today to give the gift of joy.

A New Migrant Definition

To wrap things up, we’d like to propose our own definition of a migrant, one that we feel better expresses WHO migrants really are:

“Migrant: A human being who happens to have experienced the need or desire to move residences over a long distance and who carries with them all the emotions, memories, hopes, and dreams that unite us as human beings.”

• Clowns Without Borders USA

There will always be migrants. And we hope you’ll join us in staunchly defending their right to play and laugh.

FAQs About Migrants

What is the difference between a migrant and an immigrant?

The distinction between migrant vs. immigrant is imprecise, but most people consider that:

• “Migrant” refers to people who move long distances, often temporarily or for an indeterminate amount of time.
• “Immigrant” refers to the intention of a more permanent move and often includes long-term legal status such as a residency card or citizenship. (The idea that “immigrant” equals legality is reflected in the often derogatory distinction of “illegal immigrant.”)

What is the difference between a refugee and a migrant?

According to the 1951 Geneva Convention, “Refugee” is a legally defined term with protective rights (“migrants” do not share these rights). 

It all comes down to who faces a significant enough threat to be considered a refugee vs. a migrant, which is a difficult and politically motivated determination.

What is the difference between an asylum seeker and a migrant?

An asylum seeker is someone who is requesting permission to stay in a country on the basis of persecution, violence, or danger in their home country. 

Asylum seekers do not meet the legal definition of “refugee” and must prove their claims, which may or may not be approved by the government of the country in which they are seeking asylum.

How to help migrants: What can You do?

There are so many ways to help migrants! Here are just a few options:

• Stay updated on the current issues facing migrants through trusted sources like the UN.
• Stand up for migrants and immigrants by supporting organizations such as the Immigration Advocacy Network.
• Join Clowns Without Borders in spreading joy by becoming a Joy Maker or otherwise getting involved!

Joy Makers is a family of people just like you, who love to laugh and make others feel good. You know, as a clown does, the power of ensuring all children play and feel joy.

When you join Joy Makers, your monthly donation supports laughter and play throughout the year for some of the most vulnerable people on the planet. For $11 a month, you can bring a new child to a clown show every month of the year.

Refugees may cross national boundaries to seek safety, but IDPs are unable or choose not to do so.

Aid organizations often can’t help IDPs because of unsafe conditions. For these reasons and others you’ll read about in this post, Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has called IDPs, “among the most vulnerable of the human family.”

Read to the end of the post for information, photos, and a video about IDP communities Clowns Without Borders-USA has supported.

Who are Internally Displaced People (IDPs)?

Do you know someone displaced due to conflict or natural disaster?

The number of IDPs across the world has been increasing for some time, but in 2022, the population of this group jumped to the highest level ever.

By the end of 2022, people displaced from their homes worldwide reached 71.1 million, with 88% displaced because of conflict and violence. Disasters caused the displacement of the remaining 22%.

Note: Data in this post is from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre’s GRID 2023 Report unless otherwise noted.

Who are Internally Displaced People (IDPs)? by Maggie Cunha

Where are IDPs?

Internal displacement occurs worldwide.

At the end of 2022, sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 45% of the world’s total IDPs, with nearly 6 million in Democratic Republic of the Congo and 4.6 million in Ethiopia.

The Middle East and North Africa join sub-Saharan Africa as regions with the most IDPs in the world (18%). Syria had almost 7 million IDPs by the end of 2022 and Yemen had 4.5 million IDPs.

The war in Ukraine has caused the internal displacement of 5.9 million people.

IDPs and Urbanization

Most IDPs live outside formal camps, separating them from most humanitarian services. In urban areas, IDPs may have better access to education, housing, and healthcare services if discriminatory laws don’t block that path.

Another challenge IDPs may need to navigate? The people who already live in urban areas.

Urban residents may see an influx of IDPs as competition for housing or jobs. This can lead to harassment, discrimination, or violence.

FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions About IDPs

What does IDP stand for?

IDP = Internally Displaced Person. IDPs = Internally Displaced People.

What is an internally displaced person? Who are internally displaced persons?

A simple definition of IDP is from Wikipedia: “An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country’s borders.”

You may feel challenged to see internally displaced people (IDPs) as more than a distant, nameless group of people who you have nothing in common with.

But, at CWB, our supporters journey with us to where IDPs live, work, and play. We meet people, learn their names, and offer games — many, many games. Children and families connect through the magic of play and laughter.

And we share their stories.

Get CWB’s newsletter.

Are internally displaced persons (IDPs) refugees?

No, IDPs are not refugees.

To be considered a refugee, a person must cross their national border. If a family has the same experience as their neighbor but doesn’t leave the country, they will not have the chance to become a refugee. The neighbor that crosses the border has the chance to become a refugee.

Unlike refugees, internally displaced people, or IDPs, do not have a special status in international law. “Internally displaced person” is a descriptive term that does not come with rights or privileges.

What challenges do internally displaced persons (IDPs) face?

IDPs face many challenges:

• IDPs leave their home, and so leave behind a job, property, and livelihood
• IDPs are often out of reach of international aid organizations
• IDPs may not eat regular meals
• IDPs may get injured or lose loved ones to violence
• IDPs must rely on their government for support, which may not come
• There are more IDPs than refugees (over 2x), but receive less global attention
• International law does not protect IDPs from violence or persecution

What rights do internally displaced persons have?

Internally displaced people, or IDPs, have the right to the same freedoms and rights as everyone else in their country. However, a crisis may limit those rights, especially if the government responsible for protecting IDPs is also persecuting them.

Unlike refugees, IDPs lack protection under international law. The United Nations’ Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement sets out government responsibilities toward IDPs, but it’s not international law.

Below are documents for further reading.

• African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (“Kampala Convention”), 22 October 2009
• International Standards Relating to Internal Displacement

What are the causes of internally displaced persons (IDPs)?

Conflict or violence forces 88% of IDPs to leave their homes, while natural disasters like storms, droughts, fires, or floods displace the remaining 22%.

What are the needs of internally displaced persons (IDPs)?

IDPs’ needs may include food, shelter, healthcare, education, and childcare. However, getting help to IDP communities may be difficult for aid organizations because of dangerous routes.

The good news? Informing yourself about your government’s policies toward international conflicts can help IDPs. This is especially true when your government knows that you care about IDPs enough to affect the way you vote and contribute to civic life in your home country.

What are the examples of IDPs?

Great question!

Clowns Without Borders has gone to many IDP communities.

In the last section of this post, you’ll learn about people from IDP communities we’ve supported (including tour photos, videos, and links to blog posts).

IDPs and Clowns Without Borders (CWB) – USA

Clowns Without Borders-USA has supported IDPs across the globe. For a larger sample of our work, check out our blog.

The Middle East

Iraqi Kurdistan is an autonomous region in northern Iraq where stateless Kurdish refugees and IDPs represent about 28% of the population. CWB toured the region twice in 2022 to establish a new partnership.

East Asia

There are currently 1.5 million IDPs in Myanmar. CWB toured here in 2018, performing a mine safety show for internally displaced children in partnership with Mines Advisory Group. This video is a taste of the project.

The Americas

Agricultural intrusions onto their lands constantly threaten Indigenous communities of Southern Brazil. CWB exchanged art with the Guarani people in 2019 and again in 2022.

Colombia is currently home to 4.8 million IDPs. Here, CWB toured 10 times since 2009, most recently connecting with youth who are at risk for gang recruitment.

In El Salvador and Guatemala, CWB laughed and played with IDP families who fled their homes because of violence or climate disasters.

“Thank you for bringing us laughter. The community needed it.

Thank you for being professional and different.”

– Ken, a grandfather from the audience Guatemala, 2022

Conclusion

You can help internally displaced people, or IDPs, by connecting with organizations that support them.

At CWB, we share the faces (often smiling and laughing) we meet on tour with our supporters. Because people connect with people, not statistics.

If you’d like to hear stories about displaced people regularly, join us by signing up for our weekly newsletter!

And why does play need to be defended in areas of crisis?

Clowns who have witnessed the transformative power of play help me answer these questions in this second post of three in a series about the right to play.

Why Does Protecting Play as a Human Right Matter?

You may have heard that play is helpful for brain development. We’re going to talk about that, and we’re going to talk about a few less conventional ideas of why play matters.

Ready? Game on!

Your Brain is a Fantastic Playground

Albert Einstein said, “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” But how does your brain become adaptable?

Play.

Imagine your brain as a fantastic playground. The more you play on the playground, the more moves and tricks you learn. In the same way, play helps your brain respond with more nuance to situations that arise.

It’s all about the prefrontal cortex, a recently evolved (just 30 to 19 million years ago ) area at the front of your brain that serves your most complex thinking.

When you play, your brain’s prefrontal cortex refines its ability to regulate thoughts, actions, and emotions. That means that you’ll be able to handle tricky situations with greater ease.

Play-based brain development is especially important for those who have experienced a crisis, as we’ll talk about later.

Clowns’ Warning: Don’t Corrupt Play

Clowns will be the first to tell you that play’s worth extends far beyond brain development (and related discussions of educational gains). To limit play’s value in this way is to degrade it. Let’s flip that, and unearth play’s multifaceted and expansive qualities.

Conversations about play often overlook the social-emotional ways that play matters.

According to a 2019 study of humanitarian clowning, clown performance and post-performance play

• Treats failure as a right, and shows that it’s necessary for learning
• Strips away social roles and norms
• Exposes the audience to their self, free from normative social roles
• Increases self-awareness
• Acts as an interlude from real life
• Encourages a sense of community
• Facilitates relief of stress and anxiety 
• Provides human connection
• Gives people lasting memories of joy

We don’t have a joy-o-meter. Rather, we have records of personal communication that describe the joy and relief children and adults feel after attending a CWB event.

“I’ve never had this joy before. I am very happy!”

– A young boy at the Center for Sudanese Migrants, Egypt

“It’s so good that you’re here because there’s nothing for the kids in Islote. Not even a park. So they’re happy you’re here. Before you even start, it’s golden just to be here. It brings the community together.”

– A young mother, Puerto Rico

“In Karantina, one child found us wherever we were performing in the area. He told one clown that he’d been seeing the show in his dreams every night.”

– Sabine Choucair, Lebanon

“Before the clowns came, the children played war. Now they play clown.”

Jordan, Feedback given to CWB–Sweden following a tour

Can Play be ‘Purposeless’?

When the outcome doesn’t matter as much as the play itself, we call this play for play’s sake (a super technical term). CWB celebrates this kind of play, because it is about the processes, experiences, and feelings that occur during play — not the results.

During play for play’s sake, imagination and curiosity lead exploration. Children (and adults) are free to create as they wish.

Play for play’s sake builds confidence, agency, and a sense of ‘I am worthy.’

Experiencing displacement can feel like the world doesn’t care about your ideas, instincts, or interests. And even as you’re forced to adapt to a different lifestyle, community spaces rarely feel welcoming and loving.

‘Not Even a Park’: Defending The Right to Play for Children in Crisis

To recap, play is fundamental to childhood because

• It’s key to healthy brain development
• It supports a range of social-emotional outcomes, including the experience of joy
• We want children to love themselves

CWB defends the right to play for children who experience displacement because they are both uniquely in need of play and uniquely distant from play opportunities.

Play Matters in Humanitarian Settings

Children experiencing displacement have lost their homes and may have witnessed violence or death. On top of these traumas, their current living situation may be dangerous or exploitative. 

Disruptions to education, lack of nurturing spaces, and psychological neglect complicate survivors’ lives.

And these children still want to play and will play, given the time and a safe space.

Not only are these children capable of quality play experiences, but play may be their only available path to recovery from their experiences.

The Play Opportunity Gap

Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child protects all children’s optimum development through play.

However, a consistent problem found in humanitarian settings is a lack of play-friendly spaces. 

When CWB clowns arrived in Turkey following the 2023 earthquake, the clowns worked among tents because play areas had yet to be established. In community after community, children were ready to play and laugh after six weeks of rubble, food lines, and mourning. 

At Maras Avşar, an earthquake survivors camp in Kahramanmaraş, Türkiye, CWB clowns heard kids explaining to one another that we were foreigners coming from very far away — for them.

When it was time to leave, they didn’t want us to go.

Conclusion

The right to play matters because play is fundamental to childhood.

Remembering that at least 40% of the (official) 108 million refugees are under the age of 18, the enormity of ensuring that every child plays can feel overwhelming.

How can you help?

In the last post of the series, we’ll share ways you can help protect the right to play. Spoiler alert: One thing you can do right now is to make a donation to Clowns Without Borders. Just $11 can change a child’s life forever as they find themselves at their first clown show.

The Guarani-Kaiowá are one of Brazil’s largest Indigenous communities. They’ve survived forced displacement since the late 1800s and increased violence since the 1950s when private capital took over vast territories, replacing eco-diversity with monoculture plantations.

And, also, if we only see the Guarani’s pain, we miss learning about who they are — including their rich traditions of ceremony and song.

In September 2022, Clowns Without Borders (CWB) returned to the Guarani community of Southern Brazil to listen, learn, share art, and laugh together.

In this post, you’ll learn about the current conditions of the Guarani people and we’ll share insights from our art exchange (a term that fits better here than tour — read on and you’ll understand why).

The Guarani: Searching for ‘the land without evil’

Guarani ancestors told of a place free from pain and suffering called ‘the land without evil.’ And, for hundreds of years, their descendants searched for such a place.

They have yet to find it.

Instead, the Guarani have experienced territorial displacement on a massive scale. In Mato Grosso do Sul, the Guarani previously occupied 350,000 square kilometers of forests and plains. Today, 24% of the remaining Guarani population (12,000 of about 50,000 people) live in just 30 square kilometers (the Dourados Reserve).

The reserve lacks adequate land for crops, hunting, or fishing. For more on the Guarani’s forced removal from ancestral land, see our Brazil 2019 blog post.

‘Danger is experienced on an everyday basis’

Performing artist Julie Moore recounts one disturbing event:

Maybe two hours before CWB was to perform, we get word that the body of a 13-year-old-girl, who’s part of the community we’re performing for, has just been found.

The community asked that even with this news, we perform the show as planned.

The team delivered a performance full of empathy and gentleness.

Homicides and assaults are all too familiar in the Guarani community. And the government does not protect indigenous people from ranchers’ gunmen and militias. Perpetrators often go unpunished.

The community’s pain is real, and it’s ongoing.

CWB is a witness to the Guarani’s pain, and also their ceremony, song, and dance.

Joining Hands and Making Eye Contact, Rain or Shine

On tour, CWB is typically the first to offer a song. That wasn’t the case with the Guarani.

According to Julie Moore, the Guarani’s greeting was song and dance, “in every space we entered.”

For the team, the experience was vibrant, warm, and joyful.

If you want to learn about the significance of song to the Guarani people, I encourage you to check out the following article by Valéria Macedo, Anthropologist and Professor at Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil. She began working with the Guarani in 2005 and her 2011 article is called Tracking Guarani songs: between villages, cities and worlds.

Feats of Juggling Feet: Sharing Clowning and Performance Art

CWB artists Tetê Purezempla (Brazil), Kauan Scaldelai (Brazil), Ludmila Lopes (Brazil), Julie Moore (US), and Orlene Carlos (US) were pleased as punch to share their performance art and witty shenanigans of the highest order with the Guarani.

There were saxophone tunes, tables tossed by a foot juggler, and lots of zany clownish humor.

Here are some of our favorite shots from the performances.

Conclusion

CWB was honored to walk on the soil that the Guarani-Kaiowá are fighting for, exchange art, and listen to stories of both pain and joy.

CWB team members shared ‌17 performances, one workshop for those interested in the art of clowning, and one workshop for social workers. 

To see more program photos, check out our video montage below!

Introducing Luz Gaxiola

One of the most iconic photos of Luz is from a 2015 tour to Lesvos Greece. A young girl and the clowns are bouncing on a rubber life raft, transforming it into a trampoline. The girl’s face is partially covered by her hair, but her wide smile peeks through. Luz is holding her accordion, also grinning. The photo does not show that the girl, a Syrian refugee, was still damp from crossing the Mytilini Strait. The photo does not show the girl’s loss, fear, or the uncertainty of her future. The photo shows her resilience. The photo shows her laughter.

Here’s a chance to get to know Luz a little better.

Do you wear a nose when you perform?

I love wearing a clown nose. For people who are culturally familiar with clowning, they see the red nose and it is a signal:  That’s a clown, it’s time to play! 

But I don’t always wear a red nose, especially if I dont’ know much about the situation where I’m performing or if I know I’ll be up close and will need to make a soft approach. Not everyone is ready to get into wacky play immediately. Sometimes not having a red nose leads to more flexibility to start with a gentle connection.

What is your favorite clown prop?

My accordion

You can hear the accordion before you see the clown. It evokes a mood and a feeling. A musical instrument is the most efficient way to establish a world.

Traveling with the accordion: you’ve got to really want to do it. It’s heavy and it’s delicate. It is definitely hard and sometimes annoying to travel with, but the accordion’s sound is so full and it’s such a big presence that it’s worth it.

The other cool thing about the accordion is that can take you where you need to go. If you show up with an accordion, someone will say, “Hey you with the accordion, come over here.” It’s like an entrance ticket. 

What’s a favorite memory from working with CWB?

One night in Lesvos, I went on a walk to the beach. Our day of work was done, we had done three shows. I was just going to the beach by myself to play the accordion and relax. When I got there, rubber boats were landing. It was about sixty people arriving. This was it, their moment of landing. There were a ton of people, and it was a really quiet, delicate moment. I didn’t play the accordion. In that moment, it didn’t feel right. After everyone was safely off the liferafts and on the beach, people from a Norwegian NGO sprung into action getting people water to drink. I heard them talking making calls to set up bus transport to pick up everyone from the beach and take them to a refugee camp.

All of a sudden, there was a lot of people by the street, standing around and waiting for the bus. I thought, “this is the moment for the accordion.” So I walked up with the accordion and people flipped out. They demanded I play and we had a dance party on the street. A lot of the people there were from Afghanistan, and some asked me if I knew any Afghani music, which unfortunately I didn’t. So they showed me Afghani folk dances set to Mexican music, Italian tunes, and whatever else I played on the accordion. There was a great feeling of relief, they had just completed the most dangerous part of their journey and it was time to celebrate. They still had a long way to go but arriving safely in Greece was a major milestone. I stayed with them for about an hour until the buses picked up the last people waiting. I don’t have any pictures, there is no official Clowns Without Borders documentation, but I think about that night all the time. It started as a moment that wasn’t right for play, and then it became the perfect moment for play. 

There was a woman who stood next to me while I was played, dancing with me and egging me on. She was about my age, and we connected. It was like we were instant best friends. A few days later, I saw her at the Moria camp and we hugged tightly. I think of her often and wonder where she is now.

What are you currently working on?

I’m really excited about developing a collection of acts that are ready for any circumstances, any weather. I want to make some rain-ready shows. So that’s my project, offroad, all-weather clowning!

What’s something you learned from another CWB artist?

I learned a lot working with Sabine. Sometimes people think we are diminishing someone’s situation by being silly. Sabine really helped me to see firsthand that it’s actually the opposite. Choosing to be silly can be an amazingly empowering decision for people living in stressful circumstances. It is a form of defiance to choose to engage in play, and Sabine was so good at showing that. 

Most importantly, the climate emergency is “without borders.” It will dramatically reshape life on earth, even impacting nations and individuals whose affluence will allow them to escape the deadliest effects.

Current Global Displacement

Global displacement is at record levels. The political and economic crisis in Venezuela is so severe that “Venezuelans displaced abroad” is now its own category describing 3.9 million people. Children disproportionately represent 42% of globally displaced people and only 30% of the world’s population. Nearly half of all 20.7 million refugees are children under the age of 18.

It’s clear that forced displacement drastically increased over the past decade, with no signs of slowing down. The climate crisis is also accelerating. Yet, “climate refugees” and “environmental migration” are largely absent from UNHCR’s conceptualization of forced displacement.

Environmental Migration

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), environmental migrants are people forced to move due to sudden or progressive changes to their environment. However, “environmental migrant” and “climate refugee” are conceptual terms. There’s no legal definition or binding agreement to incorporate these migrants into international policy.

Who Counts?

Imagine one farmer forced to leave her country because of worsening drought. Another flees severe flooding. Both are relatively common natural disasters, yet one is prolonged while the other is sudden. Extreme weather events will become more frequent as the climate crisis progresses. Would both people count as environmental migrants? In a future rife with disasters, how will we differentiate what’s “natural” and what’s “extreme”?

Determining the root cause of migration has huge consequences for migrants’ rights and legal protections. War, persecution, or other violence forced many of today’s displaced people to move. Future conflicts over increasingly strained or scarce resources will further blur the distinction between “political” and “climatic.”

NPR reports that the climate crisis is most likely to cause internal displacement, forcing people to relocate within their home countries. If so, the ranks of Internally Displaced People (IDP) could balloon. Alternatively, the same people already experiencing displacement could be forced to move again and again.

The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) states:

The Defining Crisis Of Our Time

The UNHCR calls the climate emergency “the defining crisis of our time,” but there are few solutions in sight. In 2018, the UN General Assembly’s Global Compact on Refugees recognized the “reality of increasing displacement in the context of disasters, environmental degradation and climate change” while denying that these drivers are “root causes” of refugee movement. IOM’s Data Migration Portal confirms that it’s challenging to differentiate migration-triggering environmental factors from political, economic, or personal factors, because they’re so closely linked to one another:

In other words, it’s hard to come by quantitative data and qualitative data is considered insufficient.

Why We Need Climate Stories

CWB frequently works with communities experiencing climate-related crisis. In The Bahamas, Haitian migrant workers who had just survived Hurricane Dorian were at risk for deportation. Parts of Puerto Rico’s infrastructure remained abandoned or broken a year after Hurricane Maria—a year in which thousands of Puerto Ricans moved to the mainland United States. Indigenous Guaraní people in Brazil routinely defend their land against agribusiness tactics of clear-cutting—a practice that, when combined with rising global temperatures, may contribute to massive fires.

Is CWB – USA here to solve the climate crisis? No, of course not. However, CWB’s restorative-narrative approach recognizes the complexity of agency and self-determination within vulnerable communities. We regularly adjust our programming in response to stories from the field. Qualitative data drives our decision-making. Listening to environmental migrants can be a proactive force to change our collective fate, re-conceptualizing climate action from “aid offered to the powerless” to “action taken by the resilient.”