Bangladesh's coastal town of Mongla
is bustling with activity every morning.
It's become a new home for many climate migrants.
The driving force behind this migration is jobs.
Across the river, giant factories in the export processing zone
have created a surge in employment opportunities.
35-year-old Aklima Parveen is one of the internal migrants
who left her waterlogged home three years ago.
The single mother lived in Koyra, just a few hours' drive from Mongla
and very vulnerable to natural disasters.
In 2009 cyclone Ayla hit us.
River erosion caused by Ayla waterlogged us for three years.
An embankment was built. But then other cyclones hit, like Amphan.
It was very hard to live there. Water got into the house.
Sanitation systems don't work. People are facing a food crisis there.
Children can’t go to school.
That's why I moved to Mongla with my family.
Mongla is a southwestern seaport town of disaster-prone Bangladesh.
This South Asian country faces the brunt of climate change
with an increasing number of cyclones hitting its coast.
The World Bank predicts there'll be at least 13 million
new internally displaced people here in the next 30 years.
Aklima Parveen came to this town with her 15-year-old child.
Many migrants head to already overcrowded and overburdened
bigger cities for jobs and better social security, but Parveen chose Mongla.
In my village, there were no job opportunities.
Because of the export processing zone, we now have employment here.
People here can make a living, there's less suffering,
we're much better off now.
In Mongla’s export processing zone, the employment opportunities
have increased tenfold since 2014.
Currently more than 14 thousand workers make textiles
and other products for foreign markets here.
It's not just the promise of jobs that pulls people here.
This town, with a population of 150 thousand, also offers
a safer environment in the face of the climate crisis.
City authorities have built an 11-kilometer embankment
that stretches along a newly constructed road
and two flood-control gates.
So far 700 people have found a home in this new housing project,
initiated by the government.
There are still many homeless migrants. And more housing is needed.
Many live in informal, self-built houses.
Safe drinking water is also lacking because of the infiltration of saltwater.
The mayor tells us there are rainwater collection projects
that provide water to hundreds of families.
And various other initiatives, but together they're still not enough.
We have two water reservoirs on 84 acres of land.
During periods when the river water is non-saline,
we store water in these reservoirs.
Throughout the year, we distribute this water to the residents.
Presently, we can meet the water needs of 2,700 families,
although the demand exceeds our current capacity.
The idea is to transform Mongla into a climate-resilient and
migrant-friendly town through these adaptation measures.
The driving force is a local NGO with big plans.
The figure of 13.3 million new migrants by 2050 is no laughing matter.
Without timely attention and investment in resilience,
we could be facing an alarming situation in the future.
Securing funding for a project of this scale poses a challenge,
but the NGO is optimistic about getting support
from both local and international sources.
Aklima Parveen has returned home from her early shift in the factory.
She's preparing food for her child who will soon finish high school.
I want my son to get a proper education, so that he has a better quality of life.
Mongla has become a new home for hundreds of people like Aklima Parveen,
and serves, despite all challenges,
as a beacon for urban adaptation to climate change.