Resilient Or Vulnerable? Analyzing Disaster-Triggered Migration Process Of a Tropical Cyclone Prone Coastal Community

The capacity of coping with the effects of a disaster is not only an economic capability; it is also a result of socio-politically constructed vulnerability matter of the survivors. Thus, the migration-decision by the disaster victims is not really instant – it is a long-term consequence of societal mechanisms that is determined through unequal distribution of resources, opportunities and power. Consequently, the aftermath intervention programs in disaster affected communities succeed to social inequalities – as well as population displacement. Taking this theoretical and conceptual debate into consideration, this paper explores how the aftermath intervention programs influence the community resilience or social vulnerability in coastal Bangladesh? Do such interventions introduce social disparities, and finally, result to a migration-decision of the cyclone victims? Results are derived from a field survey with 1555 respondents. The survey was conducted during 2009 and 2010 in 48 southwest coastal villages; those were severely affected by cyclone Aila. Applying principle component analysis (PCA) in SPSS, a social vulnerability index (SVI) is constructed and then the respondents are classified according to their socio-demographic characteristics. Findings show that socio-politically vulnerable population is proportionately more displaced than the socio-politically resilient population. Thus, it increases the social instability through increasing the dependency of powerless on the powerful classes in the society.