Bangladesh Safe Migration for Bangladeshi Workers Bangladesh has maintained an impressive track record on growth and development. In the past decade, the economy has grown at an average 6 percent and more than 16 million social marginalization in host countries. Bangladeshis have moved out of poverty Many go into debt to pay for migration, since 2000. However, even with a remit most earnings, achieve minimal growing economy there is still savings, and have limited assistance for widespread poverty and re-integration upon return home. underemployment motivating many Bangladeshis to migrate in search of The Project: better opportunities. As a result, almost In response, the JSDF signed a $2.58 half a million Bangladeshis migrate million grant agreement with BRAC to overseas implement a pilot project on Safe “This project has great annually for potential for reducing the Migration for Bangladeshi employment Workers, with the objective of reducing vulnerability of potential purposes, migrants and their families vulnerability of migrant workers and mostly to the their families. The intended beneficiaries by enhancing information Middle East. flows about migrant rights, are Bangladesh’s poorest and vulnerable the migration process, Unfortunately, people who seek employment affordable financing, and Bangladeshi opportunities abroad. remittance management.” migrants face The pilot is being implemented across 80 considerable upazilas (sub-districts) in 20 districts -Christine Kimes, Acting challenges and Country Head, the World and aims to benefit 864,000 risks such as migrants and their families. The project Bank Bangladesh. fraud and will target the poorest and most deception by recruiters, physical l abuse vulnerable in Bangladesh who may and exploitation from employers, squalid consider migration for economic gain to living conditions, poor access to health better their lives and the life of their care and insufficient pay for long work families. hours in difficult physical conditions, and The Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF) was established in June 2000 by the Government of Japan and the World Bank as a mechanism for providing direct assistance to the poorest and most vulnerable groups in eligible World Bank group member countries. and remuneration in host countries. Project Focus and Components: • Consultation, Monitoring and Evaluation: Facilitate consultation and The project is innovative firstly because there coordination between key actors and are no programs in Bangladesh -- a country with establish a sound monitoring and evaluation enormous numbers of mostly poor, low-skilled system to measure the program's impact and people migrating for employment -- of effectiveness for promoting and sustaining significant scope and scale that address the safe migration. desperate situation in which many migrant workers find themselves. By providing The project is being executed by BRAC, one of information and linkages to a host of services – the largest and oldest NGOs in the world, from finance to training – it allows potential Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee migrants to make more informed choices and (BRAC ). thereby avoid unfortunate and costly-to-reverse migration mistakes. The project has 3 inter-locking components: • Identification of Community-Based Organizations for Information and Services: Improve potential migrant workers' access to information and services for promoting safe migration at the Community-ownership Model: community level. The JSDF pilot is an example of active • Pre-Departure Preparation through participation of the community in project Information Sharing and Training: design. A 2007 JSDF seed grant financed a Provide information and linkages to training to better prepare potential migrants to safely participatory workshop in Dhaka on migration, move through the migration process and bringing together key stakeholders from increase the scope for better employment government, NGOs, civil society, development Box 1 - Bangladeshi Migrant Workers Remittances from migrant workers in the fiscal year 2012-3 amounted to more than $14 billion and account for approximately 9% of GDP. Remittances are thus a major source of Bangladesh’s foreign exchange earnings. At the family level, they enable poor households to obtain better nutrition, education, and health care for family members, and thus play a vital role in the fight against poverty. “During the recent past, there has been a significant rise in work-related temporary overseas migration for export of services. Migrant remittances provide direct, immediate and far reaching benefits to the country,” -Mahabub Hossain PhD, Executive Director, BRAC partners and host countries. The two-day Increased knowledge and awareness: workshop identified key risks facing migrants, 864,000 potential migrants and their families mitigation measures underway and innovative receive orientation on the migration process, approaches to address migration challenges. financing options and better remittance management. During its first year of implementation, the project has raised awareness among various Increased livelihood Impact: At least 30 stakeholders at the central, district and field percent of potential migrants report reduced levels through sensitization workshops – these dependency on middlemen, leading to lower have been well-attended by government, costs of migration, and 10 percent of migrants NGOs, journalists and academics. In addition, and their families show improved management the project utilizes volunteers, including of remittances. returnee migrants, working through the Community Based Organizations, thereby Sustainability: tapping into local expertise and knowledge. The Government of Bangladesh has Results and Outcomes: shown a keen interest in this pilot. Safe migration is an increasingly important issue in Migrant-specific vulnerabilities will be reduced Bangladesh with regular media coverage of by enhancing the social protection for migrants migration problems, leading to public outcry through information about social and human for government action. The Government rights, and by enhancing support for migrants recognizes the growing severity of the issue and during the the lack of knowledge recruitment Box 2-Project Data and capacity to process, in the host implement effective country, and upon • Grant (TF098993) Amount: $2.58 million mechanisms has their return to • Implementing Agency: BRAC prompted it to seek Bangladesh. As this • Implementation Period: 2013-2016 support to further project targets solidify its own efforts to those who are help and protect migrant among the poorest and most marginalized in workers and ensures its sustainability. Bangladesh society, its poverty reduction and social equity imperatives are strong and in-line The World Bank country program in with the World Bank's poverty reduction Bangladesh has a strong social objective. Other outcomes include: protection agenda, which encapsulates this work on safe migration. With a growing social Increased access to resources and protection and labor agenda in Bangladesh, information: In order to improve potential and following a recent request for support from migrant workers' access to information and the Government, the World Bank is exploring services for promoting safe migration and the scope for a potential operation on safe ensuring that potential migrants are well migration and skills development, using informed as they decide on whether to pursue lessons learned and design features of the migration. JSDF pilot that proved effective. represents a demographic dividend for the Box 3-BRAC Migration Programme country. It is unlikely that the domestic helped me to return home safely! economy will be able to absorb the two million entrants in the labor force each year and “I went to Jordan as a housemaid in August overseas migration has the potential to become 2013. I worked without wages and claimed my a valuable safety net for those unemployed at salary several times. They started torturing home and an important avenue for poverty me both physically and mentally. I tried to reduction. In 2013, about 8.7 million workers communicate with my husband but I failed. were employed overseas, and remittance flows After 14 month of slavery, I escaped from the amounted to around US$14 billion, or 9 jobs and I called my husband. My husband percent of GDP. Bangladesh is now among the communicated with Md. Delwar Hossain, top ten remittance-receiving countries globally. CBO Facilitator of Migration Programme, Almost two-thirds of Bangladesh's remittances BRAC. He complained at the Bureau of originate from the Middle East. The most Manpower Employment and Training (BMET common destination in international migration – the Government arm responsible for is Saudi Arabia (31 percent), followed by migration) with proper documents and United Arab Emirates (27 percent), and rescued me from Jordan through BMET. Now Malaysia (8 percent). I am safe. BRAC Migration Programme helped me to return home safely.” Although during the global economic crisis, there was a strong increase in the number of -Shahana Pervin Rupa returning Bangladeshi migrants, recent economic upswings could lead to a resurgence of those seeking to migrate. The current work of JSDF comes at an opportune time to pilot Local organizations working on this innovations for supporting safe migration. In issue will be able to join forces with other addition, there is considerable potential for partners in new alliances established through scaling-up given the wide-spread nature of the pilot, and continue their work in a more migration among the Bangladeshi population coordinated and targeted manner. Given and increasing public awareness of its increasing awareness of migration problems, challenges and risks. safe migration is an area of priority engagement for a number of development In addition, all information from the project partners, which could be further encouraged by will be stored and made available to the JSDF taking a leading role on this issue government entities and other stakeholders now. working in the area of migration. The information will provide migration Future Outlook: stakeholders with a better understanding of the realities of migration, particularly in areas that The successful model has a potential to currently lack safe migration support systems be replicated and expanded! With 60 and with significant numbers of people percent of its population in the working age migrating or considering migration. bracket (15-49 years), the large workforce