Bangladeshi Migrant workers in Brunei: Migration, Employment and Networking Process
Author Name
Mst Rayhena Sarker
Author Address
PhD. Fellow, Institute of Asian Studies, University Brunei Darussalam, E-Mail:
[email protected]
Keywords
Migration, International Migration, Bangladeshi Migrant Workers, Migrant Worker in Brunei, Networking in Migration, Employment Brokers, Recruitment Networks, Recruitment Process, Temporary Migration, Social Network.
Abstract
Migration from Bangladesh to Brunei officially started in 1992. According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Manpower, 228 Bangladeshi workers migrated to Brunei in 1992 and by 2009 there were 21,025 Bangladeshi workers in Brunei. This study will initially identify the socioeconomic factors which are responsible for the migration of Bangladeshi workers. Secondly, it will discuss the pre migration and post migration circumstances in Bangladesh and in Brunei respectively. And thirdly, it will focus on the networking, role of middlemen and brokers in the migration of Bangladeshi migrant workers to Brunei. This research will discuss international migration from Bangladesh to Brunei in the past and present and the role brokers have played in stimulating this movement. It describes legal and clandestine labour migration to Brunei, the influence of employment brokers on the process, and the organization of the recruitment networks. The involvement of brokers is crucial but not always beneficial for the migrants. Migrants are dependent on the brokers and risk exploitation. Fieldwork will be conducted in Brunei and in selected villages in Bangladesh where the migrant workers come from. The proposed paper will examine how social network influences the process of Bangladesh migration to and their temporary settlement in Brunei.
Conference
International Conference on Migration, Diaspora and Development