Environmental Refugees – Interviews by Charlie Furnis

In October 2005 Hurricane Stan swept through Central America causing destruction on a massive scale. Torrential rains saturated steep volcanic hillsides and destabalised land already made vulnerable by severe deforestation.

On the 5th October 2005 the villages of Panabaj and Tzanchaj, on the shore of Lake Atitlan, were hit by devastating mudslides . The fast flowing mud poured off the weakened slopes of the surrounding volcanoes. At around 4am it sped through the villages at high speed killing entire families as they slept. The villages were destroyed. 1200 people were buried alive. The search for bodies was called off several days later and the villages were declared mass graves. In Guatemala alone, an estimated 2000 people lost their lives

“About 2am the earth started shaking and there was a terrifying noise. We went outside and saw the mud flowing. It was about 20cm high. I went to wake my brother and when I opened the door the mud was flowing inside the house. It came up to his knees.” – Filomena Letitia Perez Guzman, 22, Panabaj Refugee Camp

The villages, on the shores of Lake Atitlan, were particularly vulnerable. The slopes above the villages had suffered years of over logging and were severely deforested. The ground was loose, exposed and susceptible to land slides.

Hurricane Stan had hit Latin America with huge force a few days earlier. It triggered mudslides and land slides all over Guatemala and Peru.

Following the mudslide, the survivors from Panabaj and Tzanchaj were relocated to Chiqisis, a village in the mountains, or housed in refugee camps. 3 years later, they were still there. Living in a state of limbo, in constant fear of further mud slides, facing severe poverty, crop failure, lack of water, confrontation over firewood and shelter problems.

There are constant conflicts with neighbouring villages over firewood, they have no permanent electricity supply and fresh water is a 1km walk away when the wells run dry.

Located high in the mountains there is no risk of mudslides in Chiquisis. However the villagers face further difficulties concerning farming, electricity, firewood and water. The temperatures are too cold to farm traditional maize and coffee so they walk 4 hours round trip each day to tend their fields further down the mountain. There are conflicts with neigh- bouring villages over firewood, they have no permanent electricity supply and fresh water is a 1km walk away when the wells run dry.

“We’ve had to move up here because it’s not safe in Tzanchaj. The houses there were built next to very steep land, when it rained heavily the land collapsed and the houses were destroyed. Here it is safer, but up here in Chiqisis, it is a struggle to survive.

We have houses, but we have no water, electricity, land or firewood. Because we are so high up, there are very few sources of water. We live at the top of a hill and above us there is only sky, nowhere for the water to flow from. During the rainy season we can collect rainwater from our roofs. But during the dry season we have to fetch water from a well 1km away” – Maria Tsapat Guarchaj, Chiquisis, 2007

“We have not gone hungry here thanks to aid from overseas. But since last year we’ve received less aid now it is almost nothing and we are starting to become concerned.”- Diego Rosario Rajpop, President of the village committee, Chiqisis

Many families still live in the refugee camp, they see Chiquisis as too far away, and refuse to move into the replacement houses built by the Government which lie in the direct line of any future mudslide. They suffer problems of their own.

“I live here in the refugee camp with my father and brother and sister. My mother died in the mudslide. We don’t speak the same language as most families here. We are not treated the same” – Maritza Ortiz, 17, Panabaj Refugee Camp, 2007

“We have to share terrible kitchens and toilets, there are arguments about cleaning. I don’t use the toilets here. but I clean them to avoid confrontation. I don’t want to fight. I’m trying to control myself, I’m going to church and I’m looking to change my life. But I find the constant arguments demoralising.”

“In the refugee camp it’s hard, we live very close to each other and there are many conflicts. We’ve been here for 3 years now. In the old village every- one had a lot more space”.

Although Climate Change can not be attributed to any single severe weather event, the overall trend is certainly towards more weather related disasters as the planet warms. Through events completely out of their control, the populations of Panabaj and Tzanchaj have been made refugees. They live in temporary accomodation, unable to return to their original homes and land. It is undoubtedly the poor who suffer first and most from global warming and climate change.