Do we really know the challenges of migration in Bangladesh?

Every day thousands of people migrate to escape poverty and conflict or to secure a livelihood, and a better future for their children.

As a global community of development professionals and academics, we discuss migration's challenges and opportunities, remittance utilization, governance, and other technical issues. But do we truly see the human side of each of the 281 million international migrants? Do we understand their emotions when they decide to migrate, their silent thoughts as they pack their bags, or the pain of leaving their family? Can we comprehend the experience of a domestic worker who has never left her village until she boards a plane? Or the difficulties encountered by the families left behind?

The challenge of managing remittances

Lovely Akhter, a housewife from Shukipur Baropara in Cumilla’s Daudkandi Upazila, Bangladesh shared her challenging experience during the COVID pandemic. "My husband has been working in Saudi Arabia for 5 years. Most of the money he sent back was spent on building our house, I had to spend all of it" she explained. "When his income stopped during the pandemic, it was hard to manage our family expenses. We had no savings, just an unfinished house." Lovely, who has one son and one daughter, highlights the precarious financial balance for families who rely on migrant work.

In the fiscal year 2023-24, Bangladesh received  23.91 billion $ in remittances, ranking as the 8th highest remittance-receiving country in the world. However, countless cases like that of Lovely Akter show the significant challenges migrants face upon returning from their foreign jobs: zero savings, absence of a secure livelihood, and community support for reintegration, primarily because many of their family members usually lack very basic financial management skills.

Since 2019 to tackle the complex challenges of migration, Helvetas Bangladesh, with support from the Embassy of Switzerland, has implemented the Strengthened & Informative Migration Systems (SIMS) project. It aims to establish a durable framework for empowering migrants and enhancing migration systems, particularly the homes and communities the migrants live in, their ways of accessing services, justice, and the government mechanisms they interact with.

SIMS implemented a comprehensive 17-week financial literacy training program for the families of migrant workers. This training equipped them with the knowledge to manage remittances effectively, it introduced family budgeting processes, encouraged investment, and even guided participants (mostly women) in setting up their enterprises. This newfound financial security has been immensely beneficial, particularly in fostering a community-driven social protection framework.

A difficult quest for justice

Ratna from the Cumilla district went to Saudi Arabia after paying 300,000 BDT to a recruiting agency. The agency attempted to follow ethical migration procedures but failed to provide Ratna with proof of employment or any documentation of the financial transactions. This oversight caused her significant trouble later on.

Ratna was forced into domestic work where she endured mental and physical abuse without payment. With the help of another domestic worker, Ratna managed to escape and return to Bangladesh.

Her case was first submitted to the DEMO (District Employment and Manpower Office) in Cumilla. After which BMET (Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training), the representative authority on behalf of the Ministry for Arbitration located in Dhaka, called her for mediation. She could not attend as at that time she was living in Rangpur. SIMS advised her to take the matter to the court. Her legal representative faced multiple court rejections, and eventually, the judgment favoured the accused. Ratna struggled to make her case heard, also because of unfavourable treatment from the local police.

She raised her issue during a visit by Members of Parliament from the Parliamentary Caucus on Migration project, facilitated by the SIMS Project team in Cumilla, bringing her case back into focus. By their recommendation, the SIMS team unsuccessfully sought an appeal, because the time limits had expired.

Lastly, SIMS facilitated engagement with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), leading to Ratna receiving some compensation. However, the amount fell far short of the justice she deserved.

As the case of Ratna shows, SIMS acknowledges that despite being deceived, migrant workers have little scope to seek legal recourse, because of systemic challenges in their country of origin and the countries of destinations. Accessing formal court systems is difficult as well due to the centralized nature of these courts, which are often far from their homes. Acquiring a lawyer can be challenging, as many are reluctant to take on migration cases. Moreover, they may receive bribe requests to deal with their grievances and face peer pressure from their communities, which often persuades them to withdraw their cases.

Understanding the importance of a more accessible and supportive system, SIMS established 115 local Grievance Management Committees (in 115 Union Parishads) composed of community leaders (including female representatives), chaired by the Union Parishad Chairman. These committees provide a local platform where migrants can openly discuss and resolve their issues within their community, ensuring they receive the support and justice they need without the barriers of distance and legal complexities.

Interventions of SIMS Phase I

SIMS I reached around 2 million aspiring migrants and their community members in the Narshingdi, Cumilla and Chittagong districts of Bangladesh.

While many migration-based projects end in initiatives that focus largely on governmental frameworks—analysing what works and what does not—SIMS uniquely caters to the individuals directly involved in migration: the aspiring and returned migrants, both men and women and their families. It delves into the markets they engage with, the services they access, and the community leaders they interact with.

SIMS also explores the political contexts that influence their decision-making processes, acknowledging the profound impact elements like currency rates, inflation, technological advancements, and local community governance frameworks have on migrants' lives.

The lack of resources and information gaps at different levels of government migration entities significantly impact the lives of migrants and potential migrants. These challenges often result in inefficient service delivery and prolonged processes. Therefore, SIMS proposed concentrating key migration-related offices, such as the Passport Office, Probashi Kallyan Bank (PKB), BOESL (Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited), and DEMOs, to be in proximity. This initiative aimed to enhance collaboration and streamline services. By bringing these offices together, SIMS sought to ensure better resource management and more effective communication, ultimately benefiting migrants by reducing wait times and improving access to essential services. This approach was well-received within the project, with successful examples such as a district where the co-location of these offices led to a more streamlined process for obtaining necessary documents.

SIMS also highlighted that Technical Training Centres (TTCs) and District Employment and Manpower Offices (DEMOs) are often not set up to respond to the needs of women migrants. Women who intend to migrate, like Ratna, face extra challenges because there is little or no attention to women's specific needs in training programs, and Pre-Decision Orientations. For instance, it's hard to find female trainers, there is a strikingly low attendance of women, and their employment opportunities in the overseas labour market is mainly confined to some specific occupations like housekeeping, garment & other factory workers, and nurses.

On the other side, there are systemic issues such as a lack of budgeting for the overall operation of training centres, poor salary structures for instructors, insufficient funding for infrastructure maintenance, and the poor dissemination of information and decisions from the designated Ministry to the district level.

SIMS examines the need for diversity and inclusion in the Pre-Decision Orientation processes provided by the Government for aspiring migrants, emphasizing the crucial role of this training for women and highlighting the disparities in recruitment practices across different districts, groups, and genders.