This report provides the results of an investigation into the linkages between flooding and migration/
population displacement in the Mekong Delta of Viet Nam as part of the Environmental Change and Forced
Migration Scenarios (EACH-FOR) project. Viet Nam was selected as a country for examining the
relationship between environmental change and migration because it is a country prone to water or waterrelated
disasters (Sternin 2003), some of which are thought to be increasing due to the influence of climate
change (IPCC 2007, Carew-Reid 2007). Moreover, a large portion of the country’s population is based in
rural areas and is directly dependent on the environment for their livelihood (Adger et al. 2001).
Additionally, in terms of migration, over the past twenty years the patterns and volume of rural out-migration
flows in Viet Nam have been undergoing significant transformation (GSO/UNFPA 2006). This has primarily
been due to the new opportunities generated by Viet Nam’s switch from a centrallyplanned economy to a
more market-oriented economy with the introduction of the Doi Moi policy in 1986 (GSO/UNFPA 2006).
Given these factors, this study hopes to shed some light as to how environmental change can interact.