Fossil fuel-based mega projects displace locals in Bangladesh, pushing youth out

Eid is usually a day of laughter and joy for most people in Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation of 170 million in South Asia. But for Muhammad Gura Miya, it became a day of sadness and mourning after his only son left home on Eid in 2025 and never returned.

Gura Miya, a 65-year-old resident of Maheshkhali sub-district of Bangladesh’s southeastern coastal district Cox’s Bazar, now spends his days in distress over the loss of his son.

“He was my only hope and support. I don’t know where he is, or whether he is alive or dead,” Miya said.

Miya is not alone. Mongabay spoke with dozens of families whose sons or household heads are missing or dead after attempting to migrate to Malaysia for work.

On April 14, 2026, a small boat carrying around 250 people, including Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingya refugees, capsized in the Andaman Sea while en route to Malaysia. Only nine people were rescued; the rest remain missing.

Young, unskilled people in this coastal area are risking illegal migration across the Bay of Bengal in small boats as fossil fuel projects, ports and petrochemical complexes threaten their ancestral livelihoods.

A study on irregular migration from Bangladesh to Malaysia through the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea found that Cox’s Bazar has become a new hub for human trafficking to Malaysia.

The partial implementation of the integrated development initiative — consisting of a coal power plant, a port, and two liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals — has already displaced 20,000 residents and left thousands of salt and shrimp cultivators unemployed after their land was converted into industrial plots.

Unemployed and seeing no future in the planned development, local youth who lack technical skills are being drawn into illegal migration by promises of better earnings and employment.

But the risky voyage often ends in death, imprisonment in Myanmar or Thailand, or captivity by traffickers and smugglers.

With support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Bangladesh government has launched major development initiatives for the coastal area under the Maheshkhali–Matarbari Integrated Development Initiative (MIDI), which began in February 2024.

The development plans require about 37,000 hectares (91,429 acres) of land across Maheshkhali and Matarbari (under Maheskhali sub-district) to establish three major industrial zones: An energy hub with 13 gigawatts of new LNG and coal power plants, a deep-sea port with container and multipurpose terminals, and a special economic zone.

An ActionAid study released in September 2020 found that the first phase of the Matarbari coal power plant and deep seaport had already displaced around 20,000 people by acquiring 1,141 hectares (2,820 acres) of land used for salt production, fish farming, and shrimp cultivation.

Together, the coal power plant, coal jetty, and deep seaport affected around 90,000 people in Matarbari, according to the study.

However, implementation of the three major industrial zones under the master plan may displace more than 770,000 local people.

Livelihoods in Maheshkhali and Matarbari are highly dependent on salt cultivation and shrimp farming, according to the environmental impact assessment report (EIA) for the Matarbari coal power project, conducted by Tokyo Electric Power Services Co. Ltd. (TEPSCO), a JICA study team.

The EIA said land acquisition for salt pans and shrimp farms could worsen household economies and cause livelihood losses.

To reduce the effects of poverty caused by land and job losses, the study recommended employing local residents at the construction site, power plant and associated facilities, based on their skills.

Local people who once worked in salt pans and shrimp farms found work at the coal power plant and port during construction. But many became unemployed once the facilities began operating, and they no longer had land to cultivate.

Displaced salt and shrimp farmers were largely excluded from the projects due to their technical knowledge gap and lack of education.