The Bangladeshi Diaspora: A Study and Analysis

 

Iftekhar A. Chowdhury
Senior Research Fellow
Institute of South Asian Studies

 

Bangladesh’s population, at 150 million, is one of the largest in the world. In recent times, the number of Bangladeshis living abroad has grown exponentially, and is now approximately 5.5 million. At the country’s independence in 1971, the size was no more than 300,000. Most reside in the United Kingdom and some in North America. A vast majority of them are from the north-eastern district of Sylhet, with its strong and historical migratory culture. This expatriate community contributed significantly to the independence movement of Bangladesh in 1971 by strongly lobbying for support among the British and American political parties and media, as well as raising funds. In terms of occupation, those in the United Kingdom are largely caterers owning over 15,000 restaurants. They are the reason why today ‘chicken tikka masala’ is considered one of the foremost fares of British cuisine.

The challenges initially confronting Bangladesh’s war-torn economy and ‘pull-factors’ emanating from those already abroad led to the swelling of numbers going overseas. The oil and gas-based prosperity of their fellow Muslim nations of the Middle East in the 1990s, and the demand for workers for their booming construction industry saw the number of Bangladeshi migrant workers to that region grow at a phenomenal rate. The government stepped in to assist the process and created a separate Ministry of Overseas Employment and Expatriate Welfare. It was mandated to organise short-term migration, negotiate memoranda of understanding with the host country, and upgrade worker skills through 37 mostly newly-opened training centres. The purpose was to meet the more specialised demands of newer markets such as South Korea and Singapore. Remittances from the workers going abroad, amounting now to US$9 billion annually, became the second largest foreign-exchange earner of the country, next only to the exports of ready-made garments. Officials and the media began to refer to these workers as the nation’s ‘unsung heroes’.

 

The diaspora can be divided into two segments: one, the non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs), the early settlers mostly in the United Kingdom and North America, though also in parts of Europe and Australasia, numbering about a million. They include second and third generation Bangladeshis, many assimilated in their host societies. However, for a large number, emotional links with Bangladesh remain. Bangladesh authorities are seeking to translate these sentiments into investments.

 

Encouragement is also provided by policy-support measures. Among them are rules allowing for ‘dual nationality’ where possible, waiving visa requirements in other cases, and facilitating investments by planning for Special Economic Zones specifically for NRBs. Policies also aim at transforming the ‘brain-drain’ into ‘brain-gain’. Incentives are provided for the better-skilled to return.

 

The balance – the migrant workers – constitutes the other segment. They live mostly in the Middle East – 1.8 million in Saudi Arabia alone and slightly less in the United Arab Emirates, as well as in Malaysia. They are the source of bulk of the remittances. However, their welfare poses a great challenge. There are always allegations of exploitation and corruption, both at the sending and receiving ends. There is constant vigilance exercised by a watchful media and several human rights groups. Bangladeshi diplomacy has become active in getting international institutions such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation and the International Organisation for Migration to focus more on migrant issues.

The diaspora, both the NRBs and the migrant workers, is wooed by mainstream Bangladeshi political parties, mainly for funds. Voting rights abroad is a growing demand. Many NRBs are engaged in host-country politics. However, their tendency to ‘ghetto’ at times creates social problems. Bangladeshi expatriates have contributed to the intellectual arena of the host societies. These examples include medicine, the sciences, arts, architecture and literature. Some, who interact with extremist sections of other diasporas, unfortunately become vulnerable to forces of radicalism and fundamentalism. That is why both the host countries and Bangladesh are anxious to expose them to the traditional Bangladeshi narrative which is more tolerant, moderate, and secular.

 

There is ample scope for rigorous studies on how the rights, interests and welfare of such diaspora can be protected and advanced, their skills and capabilities further sharpened and honed, and their absorption and assimilation into newer circumstances rendered easier and harmonious. These might include the collation of ‘best practices’ for a more constructive role by such communities, both home and abroad, as well as proposals on the productive use, rather than wasteful consumption of, remittances. Singapore could provide a good hub to conduct such research, given its background in the successful handling of diverse communities. This would help Singapore develop the wherewithal to offer related technical assistance to sending countries.  Diaspora communities, properly organised, can be an asset to both the developed and developing worlds. This is more so at a time when the inexorable process of globalisation is unfolding in an earth that, some argue, is getting increasingly ‘flat’.