In The Ministry for the Future, the refugee experience is
central to the assertion that climate change uproots nearly every aspect of
life and societal systems. Kim Stanley Robinson details challenges refugees
encounter on their journey to resettlement, during their stay in refugee camps,
and after resettlement. Refugees are a recurring focus, demonstrating the
lasting impact climate change has on security, infrastructure, health,
education, and economics. Robinson’s novel calls attention to how climate
change displaces refugees and asserts how each stage of resettlement forces
them into a unique struggle for basic human rights and dignity, highlighting
the cruel impact of climate change on the global population.
The climate displacement process
begins as people experience something traumatic, whether it be a climate
disaster, climate-driven conflict, food insecurity, or other horrible
situation. They are then forced from their homes, at times also from their
countries, leaving behind their lives, habits, and comfort (Robinson 51-52). As
a refugee mentions while driving away from their apartment, “All that was over”
(Robinson 52).
On the journey to resettlement,
refugees are often treated with disrespect and at times, violence. For example,
a refugee fleeing to Switzerland describes the screening process when they
arrive as “dehumanizing” (Robinson 143). The same refugee asserts that
“refugees are by definition less than human,” which results in poor, impudent,
and inhumane treatment (Robinson 143). This particular situation ends with Swiss
authorities violently suppressing desperate refugees fighting to stay in
Switzerland (Robinson 144-145). Regarding the uprising, the narrator states
“when you lose all hope and all fear, then you become something not quite
human” (Robinson, 145). This traumatic experience is the “first memory” of a
young refugee girl, emphasizing the lasting impression of such situations,
which stick with refugees throughout their lives. While most people suffering
the impacts of climate change would never go through something this extreme, it
is possible to experience a similar situation on a less severe level.
Once accepted into the countries
they seek refuge in, refugees face an indefinite stay in camps. This
arrangement comes with systemic health, education, and sanitation issues, and
most importantly, the absence of freedom of choice (Robinson 205-207). These
sectors have been declared by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights as fundamental human rights, including the right to make decisions for yourself
(Universal Declaration of Human Rights). A recurring character who stays in a
refugee camp is there “[living] the same day for 3,352 days,” for over nine
years, not knowing when they would leave. Throughout their journey, refugees
continuously face situations in which their human rights are denied.
After resettlement, refugees must
still significantly adapt to their new lives in order to be accepted into their
new community. Racism and xenophobia drive political movements in countries
like Switzerland, in the case of this novel, which then force refugees to
assimilate and exercise caution when around other refugees (Robinson 549).
Resettlement fractures the communities established in camps and centers, as
people are often sent to different places. Additionally, the narrating refugee
in the resettlement chapter remarks that their resettlement has not provided
them with money or total legal freedom, but their main gain is dignity
(Robinson 551). Their new status changes the way others see them, thus giving
them a new sense of themselves despite the lasting memories and challenges of
being a refugee (Robinson 551).
While refugees
make up a fraction of the world’s population, they must face struggles for
human rights and basic needs, which are unimaginable to many people. Each stage
of resettlement dehumanizes refugees by taking away their dignity and freedoms.
It uproots every part of their lives and forces them to adapt to unfamiliar
environments. The struggles refugees experience are an extreme version of how
climate change influences people’s lives across the world. It is necessary to
recognize how climate change will increase the number of refugees worldwide and
reach into the everyday lives of those lucky enough to stay in their homes.
Bibliography
“Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.” United Nations, https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights. Accessed
November 14, 2022.
While reading The Ministry for the Future, I picked up on how refugees were central to the effects of climate change on our global community. This post emphasized how vital the refugees' stories were to the novel's claims and progression. Although I unconsciously understood the link between the climate crisis and refugees, this post constructs a great argument and clarifies the link.
ReplyDeleteI specifically paid great attention to two of the chapters referenced in the post while reading the novel. Chapter 35 of the novel details the process refugees face while entering new countries, their treatment, and ultimately the mindset they find themselves in after traumatic events. The last paragraph of the chapter has stayed with me even after finishing the novel, with the chapter's narrator stating, "When you lose all hope and all fear, then you become something not quite human. Whether better or worse than human I can't say. But for an hour I was not a human being" (Robinson 145). This quote really encapsulates the desperation and extremes people feel following a single or a series of traumatic events, especially the refugees and their living conditions featured throughout the novel.
The story of the mother and her two young daughters that Frank ("Jake") meets at a refugee center also encapsulates the refugee experience. After arriving at a Swiss refugee center, the daughter describes, "It felt good to be clean and dry and not hungry. Mother finally stopped crying" (Robinson 151). The relief and comfort the daughter feels after all she and her family have endured indicate the hardship and extreme conditions refugees face.
The post and Robinson's novel tie the climate crisis and the reality of refugees well into one another. Not only will purely political and economic conflicts displace people, but especially environmental crises will displace people in the future.