A Study of

Labor Trafficking in
Bangladesh

prepared for
Winrock International
Actions for Combating Trafficking-in-Persons (ACT) Program
Bangladesh

Study Conducted and Report Prepared by

Research for Development and Market (RDM)

a company of

August 2010, Dhaka

*Made possible through the generous support of the American

people *

The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors

and do not necessarily reflect the views of the
U.S. Agency for International Development or Winrock International.
For additional copies contact Winrock International at:
act@winrockbd.org or visit our website at www.actbd.org

The Study Team

Team Leader:
Sayed Nurullah Azad,
Migration and Population Development specialist
Consultant, RDM Consulting – Media-mix Enterprise Ltd.

Stakeholder Analyst:
Khandaker Rezwanul Karim,
Rights and Labor Migration specialist
Programme Manager, MJF – Manusher Jonno Foundation

Co-Researcher:
Mahbubur Rahman,
Sociologist
Coordinator, RDM Consulting – Media-mix Enterprise Ltd.

Research Coordinator and Junior Researcher:

Fatema Bashar,
Anthropologist
Executive, Media-mix Enterprise Ltd.

Field Survey and Data Processing Team:

Hasnaine Aftab, International Relations, Jahangir Nagar University

Fatema Ferdousi, Gender and Women Studies, Dhaka University
Moshtaq Ahmed, Urban and Regional Planning, Jahangir Nagar University
Mushfiqa Jahan, International Relations, Dhaka University

Analysis and Report Writing:

S N Azad,
Mahbubur Rahman
and
Rezwanul Karim
Acknowledgement

We acknowledge all the cooperation and assistance received from the diverse
group of stakeholders. We have received cordial cooperation from different
segments of people from the migrant community, community-based-
organizations, and Government and Non government entities.

We are grateful to the officials of different government bodies who cooperated

during the study. Our special thanks goes to different organizations working on
migration - IOM, BRAC, RMMRU, DAM, Shakkhor, Shosti, Changemakers,
Shishuk, BNWLA, TMSS, ACD, YPSA, BOMSA, WARBE Development Foundation
who provided us with important insights and valuable suggestions for the study.

We are very thankful to Ms Lisa Hammond, Chief of Party, ACT and other staff of
Winrock International for providing us valuable input, positive and regular
guidance, and suggestions to complete the study.

Our special thanks to the consultants, Mr. Sayed Nurullah Azad and Mr. Rezwanul
Karim and all the members of the study team, who have spent more than two
months of their time visiting six districts in Bangladesh.

RDM
Media-mix Enterprise Ltd.
Acronyms

NRB Non Resident Bangladeshi

HDR Human Development Report
MRPC Migrants’ Rights Protection Committee

GoB Government of Bangladesh

MEWOE Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment
MOFA Ministry of Foreign Affairs
MOWCA Ministry of Women and Children Affairs
PID Press Information Development
DEMO District Employment and Manpower Officer
UP Union Parishad
NGO Non-Government Organizations
CBO Community Based Organization

UN United Nations
UNO Upazilla Nirbahi Officer
UNDP United Nations Development Program
UNIFEM United Nations Development Fund for Women
ILO International Labor Organization
IOM International Organization for Migration

BMET Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training

BAIRA Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies
WARBE Welfare Association of Repatriated Bangladeshi Employees
BOMSA Bangladeshi Ovibasi Mohila Sramik Association
RMMRU Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit
BNWLA Bangladesh National Women Lawyers’ Association
DAM Dhaka Ahsania Mission
ACT Actions for Combating Trafficking-in-Persons (ACT) Program
TMSS Thengamara Mohila Sabuj Sangha
YPSA Young Power in Social Action
ACD Association for Community Development
IMA International Migrants Alliance
Contents
Page
Acknowledgement 3
Acronym 4
Executive Summary 6

Chapter 1: Introduction 7-11

Background 7
The evolution of migration and labor migration in Bangladesh 8
A discussion of migration and trafficking 8
Identifying Victims of Trafficking 8
Labor trafficking within the context of Bangladesh 11

Chapter 2: Study Analytics 11-13

Background 11
Methodology 12
Limitations 13

Chapter 3: Findings and Analysis 14-26

Migration process and labor trafficking as a concept 14
Demographic of the respondents 14
Decision making process 15
Migration cycle in Bangladesh 16
Types of migration 17
The experiences of labor migrants 18
Cost of migration 20
Occupational trends 21
Living and work conditions 21
Perception and knowledge of trafficking especially labor trafficking 23
Coping with inadequacies in government and NGO infrastructure 24

Chapter 4 Summary of Practices Surrounding Labor Trafficking in 27-31

Bangladesh
Pre departure stage 27
In the destination country 28
Local and national level infrastructure addressing the rights violation of labor 29
migrants

Chapter 5: Policy Recommendation and Conclusion 32-36

Survivor Service Needs 32

Role of key stakeholders – NGO, Civil Society, Migrant Associations 33
Concluding Summary 35

Annex 1: Analysis of Legal and Procedural Steps Necessary to Improve 37-43

the Labor Migration Process in order to Combat Trafficking
The relevant legal framework of Bangladesh regarding human trafficking 37
International and regional instruments regarding labor trafficking 42

Annex 2: Summary of the U.S. Department of State’s Annual 44-45

Trafficking in Persons Report for Bangladesh

Annex 3: Data 46-69

Executive Summary

Globalization in the twenty-first century brought a rapid movement of ideas,

technology, and even people across the world. From a policy standpoint, the
movement of peoples may be the most difficult challenge to emerge from this
period of globalization due to the risks involved with protecting the rights and
livelihoods of people as they migrate across the globe. Many of those migrants
are laborers and in order to ensure that their human rights are protected, the
issues surrounding labor migration must be addressed. Recently, the Republic of
Bangladesh has experienced a large amount of out-migration of laborers due to
the expansion of labor markets created by globalization, as well as internal
economic stagnation that has created a labor surplus within the nation. The top
countries of destination (according to the U.S. Department of State Trafficking in
Persons Report 2010) are Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the United Arab
Emirates. This high rate of emigration has created a system of foreign currency
earnings that flow as remittances between members of the Bangladeshi
community working abroad and citizens of the host country. These remittances
have become an integral part of the nation’s economy and in recent decades have
become an important and steady contributor to Bangladesh’s GDP. Within the
2009-2010 fiscal year the nation’s GDP was estimated around US $93 billion.
Within that, over US$10 billion came from remittance earnings alone which
constituted approximately 12% of the total GDP.

Although remittances have become a major boon for the Bangladeshi economy,
many laborers being sent abroad are hardly meeting with economic success.
Instead, many laborers are suffering abuses from employers and becoming
victims of labor trafficking. Unfortunately, the concept of labor trafficking is ill-
defined and misunderstood especially in Bangladesh. Not until 2008 did the
Bangladeshi government, NGO sector, and other activists working on trafficking
and labor migration related issues begin to use this terminology in relation to
abuses that fall within the United Nations Palermo Convention’s definition of
human trafficking. It is now imperative that labor trafficking be better understood
as a concept so the present gap within needs and services of labor migrants and
those at-risk of/for trafficking can be addressed in Bangladesh. With a review of
the latest statistics on labor migration and remittances it can safely be said labor
migration is an important development phenomena in Bangladesh. However, both
the legal and most commonly used definition of trafficking in Bangladesh only
refers to the trafficking of women and children. Unfortunately, this ignores the
issue of labor trafficking which affects both men and women within and across
Bangladeshi borders. It is imperative that both the developing and developed
world work together in addressing the very real, existing and emerging trends in
human trafficking simply because the globe has long benefitted from migration
but the suffering of those exposed to the abuses of trafficking must be alleviated.

Taking the above facts into consideration this study tries to examine the scope,
patterns, and needs related to labor trafficking in Bangladesh. The methodology
was designed to gather inputs from those migrants who were victims of labor
trafficking, regular migrants, potential and departing migrants as well as
government and non-government stakeholders. The respondents of the study
gave important insights on the issue including, most importantly, labor trafficking
situations and patterns, and pre-migration and post-migration service needs. The
stakeholders recommended both policy reform and improved implementation of
existing policies.

The issue of labor trafficking must be seen from a rights perspective; in particular
it is the right of every laborer to enjoy freedom from forced or bonded labor and to
receive compensation as agreed upon for his/her work. The government, civil
society and other relevant stakeholders must act quickly to ensure that
Bangladesh is able to protect migrants and the ongoing viability of labor
migration as a whole.

[For full report please contact ACT program, Winrock International Bangladesh]