2024 Articles

Data, guidelines and ethics for managing flood risk when people are already forcibly displaced

Hawker, Laurence; Trigg, Mark; Kruczkiewicz, Andrew J.; Bernhofen, Mark; Katsi, Luckson; Paterson, Ruby; Speight, Linda; Van Den Hoek, Jamon; Balfour, Nancy

The impact of flood disasters on already forcibly displaced people is substantial. From 2019–2024, 40 reports of major flood impacts on already displaced people were identified across 27 countries (figure 1). This is likely an underestimate, as poor reporting of flood events complicates the breakdown of events, posing challenges for early action and humanitarian efforts. In order to implement appropriate action, this article synthesises literature with outcomes from a workshop at the 2023 Global Flood Partnership [1] meeting (involving 23 researchers and practitioners) and five semi-structured interviews of staff working in flood management in refugee camps in Eastern Africa [2], to provide greater insights into the complex and fragmented nature of flood risk for forcibly displaced peoples. We highlight considerations for professionals, humanitarian works, policy makers and scientists working on mitigating and managing flood risk in displacement settings before we outline some key recommendations.