Toulouse (Haute-Garonne), report
From the ruins of a hilltop castle, Juned Hussain Nirob silently stares at the horizon of the Tarn. The young man, who is one of the 32 million displaced by weather disasters in 2022 around the world, recounts in half-words his departure from Bangladesh, when he was only 16 years old – he is 18 today today. On his journey to reach France, he remains discreet. He just confides that he paid 11,000 euros to cross the ocean, alone, hidden in the hold of a boat for 45 days. We won’t know more.
In Bangladesh, seasonal floods had become almost commonplace for the boy. « I would say there were two per yearhe says. Like many families in the village, we had a small inflatable boat to take refuge in the event of a flood. » But the summer of 2022 marked a turning point. This time, the surges of water were of unprecedented violence, in his isolated village in the Sylhet region, in the east of the country.
Juned only took a year after arriving in France to master French.
© Antoine Berlioz / Reporterre
« We were crammed together, my parents and I, for several days on this barely buoyant inflatable boat. »remembers Juned. Three people, without drinking water or food. « We had no choice but to drink the dirty flood water directly from our inflatable boat. Many of us have fallen ill. »
During this time, water invaded their house, made of concrete and sheet metal thanks to the « small trade in building stones [son] father »when most of their neighbors lived in bamboo huts. The floods dug into the dirt and swept away the furniture. « Everything was taken away like sheets of paper »remembers the young man.
Au Bangladesh, « no one talks about climate change »
According to the government, 70 % of land in Sylhet district has been submerged. At least fifty-nine people lost their lives, and more than four million residents were affected.
As climate change accelerates, floods and other extreme weather events will increase in number and intensity. According to estimates by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), around 17 % of Bangladesh’s 173 million people could be forced to migrate — domestically or abroad — in the next decade if warming persists at its current rate. However, in these devastated villages, no one talks about climate change. « This term is unknown, it’s as if it didn’t exist »deplores Juned. At school only, « it is sometimes mentioned that by 2060, Bangladesh could be extinct, submerged in water ».
All of his parents’ savings
Two weeks after their flight, Juned’s parents made the heartbreaking decision to send their only son to France. Alone. They invested all their savings in the hope of giving him the opportunity to rebuild his life elsewhere.
Arriving in France as a minor, he was placed in a home in Toulouse, where specialized educators supported him in his integration. Although now an adult, he can remain in the care of child welfare until he is 21, the age before which he hopes to obtain a residence permit. In just one year, he learned French, when many take a lifetime to learn French. He joined a painting company where he is preparing a CAP in learning.
Juned at his current workplace, while learning to work as a house painter.
© Antoine Berlioz / Reporterre
Brilliant and ambitious, Juned harbors a bigger dream: that of becoming a lawyer. « He can’t stand injustice »confides his boss, Laurent Gargaud. The latter, deeply touched by the boy’s tenacity – which he compares to the Bengal tiger, « both strong and lonely » – decided to support him in his integration journey. Sensitive to issues of equality, Juned takes a close look at education: « I don’t understand students who argue and don’t respect teachers, when many don’t have the chance to go to school »he explains. « He is a very upright and extremely intelligent person. »adds Laurent Gargaud.
Vicious circle
Juned now divides his time between the painting company, visits to the South-West and badminton games with a friend he met at home. No question of wanting to go back to Bangladesh.
There, floods are becoming more and more frequent, worsening the salinization of the soil. In the dry season, the lack of water in the rivers is no longer enough to counter the infiltration of salt water from the estuaries towards the interior. During floods, this salt water spreads over the fields, leaving salt residues which make the soil difficult to cultivate.
« In my village, no one raises animals anymore. It’s too risky. With each flood, the animals die. »
© Antoine Berlioz / Reporterre
To date, saltwater intrusion poses a major threat to agriculture, which employs nearly half of Bangladesh’s population. By 2050, agricultural production could fall by a third due to rising water levels and soil salinization. « In my village, no one raises animals anymoreraconte Juned. It’s too risky. With each flood, the animals die. So, many prefer not to have them anymore. » The country, already the third largest food importer in the world, risks falling further into dependence. Especially in the village of Juned, « almost no one has paid work. We live from what we cultivate ».
« Poverty is increasing, tensions are intensifying and so is violence. Everything is linked »
In these already fragile villages, the situation is further aggravated by unequal policies. The Awami League, the authoritarian party led by Sheikh Hasina, which controlled the country for fifteen years until its dismissal in August 2024, distributed emergency aid selectively, favoring its supporters. Juned says: « Villages that do not support the party do not receive emergency aid. They hold us because of that. » After each flood, solidarity is improvised with the meager remaining resources, until the next flood, which will eventually wash away everything again.
In addition to the floods, Juned’s departure was favored by the political situation in Bangladesh.
© Antoine Berlioz / Reporterre
Moving to town, where buildings are more robust, is however not an option: « Living in the city is too expensive, you have to pay rent every month, which is not possible without a fixed salary ». Some hopeful families then prefer to take the difficult gamble of sending their child, alone, investing all their savings in this exile, at the risk of never seeing them again. « They hoped to give me a better life »souffle Juned.
Like many other exiles, however, the reasons for his departure remain complex and intertwined. There are floods, of course, but not only that. « Cultivating becomes impossible, poverty increases, tensions intensify and so does violence. Everything is actually linked »he says. When asked about the other reasons that pushed him to uproot himself, he shuts down. « It’s personal. »
