Malado Barro, an immigrant from Mali who lives in New York, has experienced the impact of climate change first hand. As a child living in the city of Sikasso, she helped her father, a farmer, who needed water to take care of his land and livestock on a daily basis. For Barro, getting water for the family’s agricultural needs was incredibly challenging particularly because of severe drought during those years. Barro remembers the family stress of worrying about water that was extremely scarce for years.
“I saw how we had to struggle to get water for our animals to even have a drink. It was hard. Everybody was suffering,” Barro said.
Barro’s childhood hardships because of water scarcity or extreme weather are becoming more common. Among newly-arrived migrants to New York state, particularly those from Africa, many have left their countries of origin because they could no longer find work or live safely in their homes and communities as the result of climate change, according to advocates. With the presidential election looming, both migrants and organizations assisting them, say they are worried that the results could worsen the plight of new arrivals seeking refuge in New York.
Ahmed Gaya, the National Partnership for New Americans’ director of the Climate Justice Collaborative, a nonprofit focused on climate change, said the organization does not endorse or express opinions on specific political candidates. However, he had concerns about the attitudes expressed by politicians towards migrants during this current political cycle.
