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Reflections from other parts of the Communion
Migration and the Family - Bangladesh
Migration is an important issue related to globalisation and the cause of changes in family life. It brings both positive and negative changes.
Bangladesh has a very patriarchal family structure. The father or elder son (in absence of the father) is the only responsible person for income in the village. Many young people who have no cultivable land have traditionally come to cities for work. Nowadays with increasing globalisation and knowledge of other countries, many people want to go overseas and earn more money by doing any kind of job. People think that it is an easy way to get rich. The families of migrant workers expect money to be sent back and dream of building a large house and being able to marry off their young daughters. Migrant workers send vast sums home to help their families, helping the country to earn foreign currency. The amount of money Bangladesh receives in overseas remittances is many times larger than what it receives in development aid. Finally some of the workers shift their family and settle overseas as immigrant citizens.
On the negative side, migration can be said to contribute to poverty, dowry, early marriage, trafficking and HIV/AIDS transmission. Often, in order to go abroad, people sell their property or take a loan from local money lenders with high rates of interest. Others demand a high dowry. As a result of a family member going overseas, many families become ever poorer and wait for remittances to be sent from overseas to maintain their livelihood. Often workers migrate through an agency or middleman. They are open to fraud and deception and can lose their money - becoming ever poorer. Others, in an attempt to go abroad, are trafficked and many women and children end up trapped in this way.
There is a high demand in the villages for migrant workers as bridegrooms. Parents arrange marriage for their son asking for a higher dowry payment. Despite this, many young girls’ fathers want their daughters to marry a migrant worker as they hope the wealth will help them have a better life. However, after marriage the husband often returns abroad and the wife stays in the father-in-law’s house. They are badly treated and many live a terrible life. Sometimes wives become pregnant immediately and as many are only young girls, become teenage mothers. Many migrant workers get infected by HIV or other STDs and their wives and children also become infected. Affected families then suffer from social stigma and discrimination.
In this complex situation, the Church of Bangladesh Social Development programme (CBSDP) works to support community members. It plays a vital role in raising awareness among the village people about trafficking and HIV transmission. To prevent trafficking, CBSDP helps villagers to find out the current and correct information for migration in a legal way. CBSDP also fight against the early marriage and dowry.
Thus while migration can bring benefits to the family life economically, it also creates some significant issues that we need to look out for and guard against.
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