An estimated 68.5 million refugees were estimated to be globally displaced in 2019, according to data from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). More than half of this number are children. Cultural, political, and religious phenomena are responsible for large-scale human migration. However, climatic and environmental events are also causal factors in forced displacement.
To reinforce the importance of World Refugee Day, a day celebrated on June 20, the Museum of Tomorrow presents the artistic intervention “Carry what is necessary for your happiness,” by Congolese artist Serge Makanzu Kiala, an educator at the institution.
Serge holds a degree in fine arts from the University of Fine Arts in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As a sculptor, he began to be persecuted after exhibiting works that reflected politically on violence and corruption in his own country. From then on, his journey as a political refugee artist began, coming to Brazil to begin a new life far from Africa and his family.
The work
Bicycles are among the most widely used modes of transportation in the world, as they are fast and provide access to urban and rural areas, even the most remote. Eco-friendly, they are extremely useful and practical. However, they impose limits on a group's basic supplies.
With this new work, the artist transports us to the problem of environmentally displaced people, victims of natural phenomena that undermine the infrastructure of their places of origin, to the point where they can no longer continue living there.
It's a reflection on survival strategies created by those who move around and can only carry what's essential for survival. Happiness is a basic necessity. It's an end without ceasing to be a means.
The problem
Every year, 25 million people migrate after being affected by severe environmental problems such as meltwater, floods, tropical storms, fires, and extreme temperatures, leaving them without comprehensive protection. This data comes from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC). This number is expected to rise.
There are currently no international policies for humanitarian aid for those who have migrated due to natural disasters. The UN itself recognizes this global failure and sees a lack of interest among countries in implementing this new policy. There is a fear that, by attempting to implement new refugee categories in the current UN convention, the existing agreement will be weakened due to current extremist—often xenophobic—policies against refugees. Therefore, it would be necessary to discuss an instrument as strong, from a legal standpoint, as the existing one.
The creation of an international regime that guarantees the rights of vulnerable people to climate action is urgently needed. It is also important to support states affected by disasters, which destabilize response capacity, as institutions and governments become more fragile.