Mainstreaming Migration into Development Agenda: Bangladesh Perspective Selim Raihan Professor, University of Dhaka and Executive Director, SANEM Presented at the Seminar on Mainstreaming Migration to the Development Agenda: South Asian Experience, organized by the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung June 2013, Colombo,

Outline of the presentation Introduction Interaction between migration and development policies: Issues and concerns Factors determining mainstreaming migration into development agenda Macroeconomic impact of migration and remittance: Quantitative assessment Review of different migration policies in Bangladesh Policy implications 2

Introduction Can migration be a tool of development? Is there any need to mainstream migration into development agenda? How to mainstream migration into development agenda? What are the macroeconomic and social impacts of migration? What are the Bangladesh perspectives? 3

Interaction between migration and development policies: Issues and concerns Migration to be considered as a key factor in – poverty reduction policies – national policies for economic growth, and – national revenue and development budget in Bangladesh. Migration is important – access to foreign exchange – use of remittances in developmental and infrastructural project, – contribution of skilled and professional returnee to the development of the home country Social remittances: transfer of values, ideas and practices from receiving to sending countries. 4

Interaction between migration and development policies: Issues and concerns.. Social cost of migration – human trafficking – human rights abuses – violent conflicts – social disorder – lack of protection and welfare for workers – the social and psychological costs associated with migration – brain drain 5

Factors determining mainstreaming migration into development agenda Trend in Migration from Bangladesh Trend in Remittance into Bangladesh Skill Composition of Migrants Destination of Migrants Number of Female Migrants Gender Composition of Migrants 6

Trend in Migration from Bangladesh Source: BMET 7

Trend in Remittance into Bangladesh Source: WDI 8

Skill Composition of Migrants Source: Calculated from the BMET data 9

Destination of Bangladeshi Migrants Source: Calculated from the BMET data 10

Number of Female Migrants Source: BMET 11

Gender Composition of Migrants Source: Calculated from the BMET data 12

Experience of Bangladeshi Migrants Bangladeshi migrants cant have any labor union or association in the immigrant countries. Poor condition of semi-skilled and unskilled Bangladeshi workers due to huge competition from newly emerging labor exporting countries, wage discrimination and unfavorable work environment. Skilled workers of Bangladesh face restrictions, such as skill certification requirement, to practice their skill in overseas countries. Bangladeshi migrants face harassment at the airport especially when they return. 13

Experience of Bangladeshi Migrants.. Women migrant workers face huge discrimination specially in the Middle East countries. Many migrants sell their homestead and arable land to bear the cost of migration, which ultimately turn out to be too costly. Irregularity and corruption of the recruiting agencies After reaching the destination countries, many migrations are charged extra fees and their employers hold their passports and other travel documents with the aim of restricting their movements. Problem of human trafficking, illegal immigrants Skilled people migration: brain drain 14

Experience of Bangladeshi Migrants.. Some migrants return voluntarily to Bangladesh in order to enjoy their savings or to engage in income generating activities. But, some migrants voluntarily return for personal reasons such as illness, frustrations and dissatisfaction with their jobs in abroad. There is another type of migrants in Bangladesh who return unwillingly or due to absence of alternate options. Awful work environment, physical, verbal abuse, sexual harassment, wage discrimination, overtime jobs, fines and imprisonment for illegitimate employment and lack of healthcare provision are some reasons for involuntarily return of Bangladeshi migrants. Impact on migrants family: positive and negative 15

Cost of migration: Ratio of cost per person and GDP per capita Cost of migration: ratio of cost per person and GDP per capita Source: Khatiwada (2013) based on IILS calculations. 16

Positive impacts of Remittance 17

Macroeconomic and Poverty Impacts of Remittances in Bangladesh Khondker and Raihan (2009): use of CGE model Raihan et al (2009): use of disaggregated household data and CGE model Raihan and Uddin (2011): use of CGE model Raihan and Sugiyarto (2012): use of primary household survey data and CGE model: GEC and macro-micro mismatch 18

Economic Impact of Remittance: A SAM Multiplier Analysis Social Accounting Matrix of Bangladesh for the year 2007 SAM Multiplier model A simulation of 10% rise in remittance 19

Impact on Sectoral Production 20

Impact on GDP and Household consumption 21

Impact on Employment 22

Rules and Regulations for Overseas Employment/Migration Process Emigration Ordinance1982 The Ordinance was designed to set the rules for governing the labor migration sector. The Ordinance elaborates the licensing and monitoring mechanisms of recruiting agencies. It also explicitly describes the punishment of individuals and private recruiting agencies involved in fraudulent practices. 23

Overseas Employment Policy in 2006 The policy focused on protecting rights of the expatriate workers at home and abroad, preserving the existing market and exploring newer job markets, and welfare of the expatriates. The policy stressed enhancing professional skills of the workers going abroad, transparency in recruitment process, sending remittances through legal process and maintaining good behavior and discipline on part of the expatriate workers. 24

Overseas Employment and Migration Act, 2013 Upgraded the Overseas Employment Ordinance 1982 Revision of the provision of filing case against fraudulence. 25

Female Migration Policies in Bangladesh In the early 1970s: No concrete policy. In 1981: ban on female migration. In 1988: withdrawing the ban and allowed female migration for special cases and under special permission. In 1997: reimposed a complete ban except few categories such as doctors, engineers and teachers. In 2003: Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment (MoEWOE) brought some changes in female labor migration policy which allowed unskilled or semiskilled women to migrate under special permission once they become 35 years of age. In 2006: government further relaxed female migration. 26

Policy Implications Effective actions against illegal activities of private recruiting agencies. Upgrading the syllabuses of the schools, technical institutions and universities to synchronize with the global labor market trends and demands, specially for female migrants. To reduce human trafficking, local awareness campaigns, information on safe migration, shelter homes, counseling and protective measures should be available to women. Loan system to finance the cost of migration. Migrants can pay back by giving certain portion of remittances regularly. Bangladesh Bank should adopt a more liberal policy both for public and private banks to facilitate easy and quick money transfer by the expatriate workers and stop hundi. 27

Policy Implications Need to shape a comprehensive migration policy reflecting all kinds of migration, i.e., short term, long term, and migration. The role of institutions related to migration should be enhanced. A databank on migrants. Social protection and health services should be increased to prohibit contracting diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Expert bodies and civil society organizations may organize consultation meetings with local trade unions to familiarize them with migrant workers issues such as exploitation of workers during migration processing phase and violence faced in abroad. Measures for productive use of remittance 28

Conclusions The trend, pattern and outcomes of migration can shape the development of Bangladesh Migration has positive impacts in terms of remittances and return of skill and knowledge. However, it might have a detrimental impact on the development of the economy, if the social cost of migration is too high. The main concern is to take right measures in the current migration policy. Also, in the major economic policies and program, such as Five Year Plan, migration issues should be integrated as a mainstream issue, which is currently absent. 29