The Experiences of Migrants Trafficked from Bangladesh

• Author: Paul W. Miller,Mohammad Abdul Munim Joarder
• Published date: 01 May 2014
• Date: 01 May 2014
• DOI: 10.1177/0002716213518722

ANNALS, AAPSS, 653, May 2014 141

DOI: 10.1177/0002716213518722

The

Experiences of

Migrants

Trafficked from

Bangladesh

By

MOHAMMAD ABDUL

MUNIM JOARDER

and

PAUL W. MILLER

518722ANN THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMYMigrants Trafficked from Bangladesh

research-article2014

This article examines a variety of experiences that traf-

ficked illegal migrants, who had returned to Bangladesh

after working in another country, encounter. Using

survey research, we document considerable variation

across countries of destination in the cost of migration,

the amount of bribes paid to facilitators, and the rea-

sons for returning home. Such variation was related to

migrants’ assets, age, gender, and education, as well as

the nature of the migration contract. A majority of the

respondents discovered that their travel documents

were fraudulent; three-quarters reported a variety of

adverse working conditions in the destination country;

and almost all the female migrants had experienced

sexual harassment or assault. We believe that carefully

conducted survey research such as ours can provide

insights into the mechanisms of human trafficking, the

risks involved in migration, and reasons that migrants

are willing to take such risks.

Keywords: illegal migration; human trafficking;

Bangladesh

Most studies of human trafficking explore

activities, routes, and trends over time,

but few have been based on sizable surveys of

the individuals involved in migration and traf-

ficking. This article is based on a survey of

migrants who returned to Bangladesh after

working outside the country. We considered

only those migrants who travelled with legal

documents but, when they reached the host

country, came to realize that the documents

were fraudulent; those migrants who returned

due to a violation of their contract with the

employer in the host country; or those who

Mohammad Abdul Munim Joarder is an associate pro-

fessor in the Department of Economics at Shahjalal

University of Science & Technology in Bangladesh and

a PhD candidate at the School of Economics and

Finance at Curtin University, Australia. Joarder’s pri-

mary research interest is human trafficking and labor

migration and remittances, with a particular focus on

Bangladeshi migrants.

142 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY

mentioned that they had returned voluntarily due to sexual harassment, long

working hours without overtime payment, no holidays, low or no payment, pay-

ment of a salary that was well below the contracted amount, and a salary that was

not paid by the employer for at least six months. Bangladesh is one of the poorest

countries in the world, with half the population living on less than US$1.20 a day

and almost one-third living below the poverty line. In 2012 about 40 percent of

the population was underemployed (Central Intelligence Agency 2012). The lack

of employment options, widespread poverty, and a lack of human rights protec-

tions push many Bangladeshis to leave the country in search of jobs elsewhere.

Between 1976 and 2010, 6.7 million individuals migrated abroad with temporary

work permits, to the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Europe.1 This is about 13

percent of the country’s entire labor force. While it is difficult to find reliable

data, illegal outflows appear to be sizable. According to Wong (2005), the total

number of illegal migrants is equal to, if not higher than, the number of legal

labor migrants. Among the illegal migrant population, there appears to be a great

deal of trafficking (Friebel and Guriev 2006).

Most labor migration from Bangladesh is arranged through the medium of

brokers or recruiters, reflecting the insufficiency in legal channels of migration.

Most prospective low-skilled migrants hail from villages. Since recruiting agen-

cies are based in the major cities, urban recruiting agents rely heavily on a group

of middlemen who are believed to facilitate most illegal migration and human

trafficking. They are known locally as dalal (broker) or adam babshahi or adam

beapari (human trader). Recruiting agencies only manage the visas and work

permits for the prospective migrants, with the middlemen doing the rest.

Middlemen are

sub-agents [who] assist prospective migrants with a wide range of activities such as

paperwork, passports, bank accounts, medical checkups, and transportation to the air-

port. In addition to facilitating the actual migration process, they sometimes vouch to

the traditional moneylenders that their potential clients have already secured jobs in the

Gulf and therefore are eligible for credit. They can even act as guarantor for some

potential migrants who otherwise could not secure loans for migration, expanding the

role of sub-agents beyond the simple matching task. (Rahman 2012, 222)

Other types of migration, or human trafficking, are facilitated by the migrant

broker, who makes arrangements for a photocopy of the prospective migrant’s

Paul W. Miller was a professor of economics at Curtin University, Australia. He was a prolific

author and coauthor of papers in labor economics and the economics of education, and

received numerous awards for his research. He published in journals such as the American

Economic Review, Economic Journal, Journal of Labor Economics, Economic Record,

Economica, and Industrial and Labor Relations Review. On November 27, 2013, Professor

Miller passed away after a battle with cancer.

NOTE: The authors thank Ira Gang for helpful comments and acknowledge the staff of the

Immigration Authority at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Dhaka, who assisted in the

early stage of data collection. Miller acknowledges financial assistance from the Australian

Research Council.