Over one-third of the Bangladeshi expatriate workers returned home due to visa- and passport-related complexities, while a good number of them had to come back willingly or forcefully, according to a study. Besides, majority of the returnee workers claimed that they faced various difficulties in their destination countries, such as – low wage, irregular payment, police harassment, language-related problem, excessive workload, scarcity of employment, and sexual and physical harrasments etc. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) in collaboration with the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS) conducted the study from November 2013 to February 2014 on 1,200 returnee migrant workers. About 40.35 per cent of Bangladeshi workers returned home because of visa- and passport-related complexities, like – cancellation of visa, end of visa period, inability to extend visa, and end of passport validity etc, the study found. About 14.77 per cent of the workers came back home due to wage-related causes, and 14.68 per cent due to personal and family reasons. Though better income was the predominant reason for migration, many workers return with bitter experience, it also said. About 56.8 per cent of returnee migrant claimed that they faced various difficulties in their destination countries. Among female workers, 52.6 per cent indicated that they faced problems while staying abroad. The problems faced most frequently by workers were related to wages (45.45 per cent). Among the respondents 46.01 per cent male and 43.36 per cent female cited various wage-related problems. The second common trouble was police harassment. A total of 21.41 per cent of returnees faced it. The study also found that majority of the workers did not get any training before and after their migration. Some 60.70 per cent of them did not receive any skill training before going abroad with jobs. Only 17.50 per cent got training after migration to the destination countries. In the male-female ratio, 43.80 per cent of female returnees underwent through training before going abroad, whereas 38.03 per cent of male got such facility. A total of 62.25 per cent of returnee borrowed money to cover their migration-related expenses. The second main source of financing was family savings, utilised by 46.50 per cent of the workers. Some 27.75 per cent financed their migration cost by selling land or other family properties. About 81 per cent of returnee workers migrated through informal network with the help of middlemen. Some 14.4 per cent secured jobs through private recruiting agencies, and some 4.3 per cent through the government management.
