Moving Towards Solutions: Addressing Loss and Damage from Protracted Displacement in Bangladesh

Researching Internal Displacement is pleased to make this case study available as a stand-alone publication. Excerpted from a recent research and advocacy report by the Refugee Law Initiative, this case study of an urban informal settlement in Tongi, Bangladesh, examines the lived experience of loss and damage among people displaced in the context of climate change and left behind in climate action. Encouragingly, the case study also highlights a promising 'good practice' development intervention by the Sajida Foundation. In the case study, programme participants describe how Sajida’s multifaceted approach, which empowers women and girls, encourages positive behaviour change and prioritises psychosocial wellbeing across multiple programme workstreams, has helped restore agency, self-sufficiency and hope. Sajida’s programme shows how protracted displacement and associated losses and damages can be addressed and are not inevitable.

Published on February 25, 2026

Steve Miron, Dyuti Tasnuva Rifat, Tanjib Islam | idrp, IDPs, Protracted displacement, Climate, Asia-Pacific

Tongi, Bangladesh. Urban informal settlement. 2024. Photo by Dyuti Tasnuva Rifat

This publication is excerpted from a larger research and advocacy report by the Refugee Law Initiative: Missing in (Climate) Action? Displaced Communities and the Search for Durable Solutions: Bangladesh as a loss and damage case study (2025). This stand-alone case study includes a new Preface by the lead author.

As the full report argues, too often, displaced people, invisible in policy and programming, have no recourse to return home or resettle elsewhere in safety and with dignity. As a result, displacement often becomes protracted. The current status quo is tragic because protracted displacement isn’t inevitable. Our report highlights several promising community-level interventions by Bangladeshi civil society that have helped displaced people move toward durable solutions. Yet, in the absence of political will and adequate funding, such ‘good practice’ programming can’t be offered at the requisite scale.

KEYWORDS: Climate Change, Loss and Damage, Displacement, IDPs, Durable Solutions, Bangladesh, Sajida Foundation

Steve Miron ([email protected]) is a Visiting Fellow at the Refugee Law Initiative, School of Advanced Studies, University of London. He is Joint Editor-in-Chief of Researching Internal Displacement. He was the principal investigator for this project.

Dyuti Tasnuva Rifat is an independent researcher in Bangladesh. She served as Research Associate for this project and co-authored this case study.

Tanjib Islam is an independent researcher in Bangladesh. He served as Research Associate for this project and co-authored this case study.

Download Working Paper No.50

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Missing in (Climate) Action? Displaced Communities and the Search for Durable Solutions: Bangladesh as a loss and damage case study

By Steven Miron, Dyuti Tasnuva Rifat, Tanjib Islam | Oct 21, 2025

Foregrounding the voices of people living in three different communities of displacement in Bangladesh, this field research and advocacy report examines the nexus of climate change, loss and damage and displacement. This comprehensive report highlights promising interventions by Bangladeshi civil society organisations that have helped internally displaced people (IDPs) living in protracted displacement move toward durable solutions. It also examines positive developments on the policy front, including Bangladesh's fledgling National Strategy on Internal Displacement Management (NSIDM). At the same time, it calls attention to how Bangladesh's protracted displacement crisis remains under acknowledged and therefore under addressed in national policy and programming. The findings and recommendations in this report are intended to inform the UNFCCC's Loss and Damage mechanism – the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD), the Santiago Network for Loss and Damage (SNLD) and the Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM) ExCom, including its Taskforce on Displacement. Each must urgently demonstrate its commitment to addressing the growing displacement crisis and supporting durable solution programming. The report's findings and recommendations are also relevant to intergovernmental, governmental and civil society organisations working in and outside Bangladesh. Furthermore, the report suggests how conventional durable solutions approaches to displacement must evolve to remain relevant in a world of escalating losses and damages resulting from climate change.

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