‘Every year it gets worse’: on the frontline of the climate crisis in Bangladesh

Nawfat Ibshar, front, and other climate activists in Sylhet protesting at the lack of global response to the floods. Photograph: Suvra Kanti Das/The Guardian

Ever since she was a little girl, Amina Ahmed has been afraid of the water. Growing up in Sylhet, north-east of Bangladesh, the heavy rainfall that typically occurs during monsoon season would make her anxious.

But this year’s flooding has been unlike anything she’s ever seen before. “Every year, it gets a little worse but I don’t think anyone expected anything this extreme,” Ahmed says.