A few dists dominate the migration map

Most of Bangladeshi workers going abroad with jobs have been found to be hailing from a few districts.
Experts and sector insiders attribute such a disparity to the lack of a proper policy to facilitate manpower export, especially from the poverty-stricken north and the south-western regions, prone to the climate change effect.
They said high migration cost, lack of proper information about the migration process and poor services provided by the manpower bureau offices were the major reasons for poor overseas migration from these areas.
Every year, most workers go abroad from Chittagong, Comilla, Tangail, Chandpur, Brahmanbaria, Noakhali, Dhaka, Feni and Munshiganj mainly thanks to strong social network of job-seekers and migrants.
During the last 10 years from January 2004 to December 2013, the highest number of 861,745 migrated Chittagong division, followed by 594,506 from Dhaka division and 153,964 from Sylhet division, as per official data of the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET).
On the other hand, only 106,419 people went aboard from Rajshahi, 100,079 from Khulna and 80,921 from Barisal division during the period.
Experts say international labour migration helps reduce poverty, develop socio-economic condition and increase the rate of literacy.
The country's migration mainly takes place through a social network among job-seekers and migrants. Usually, migrant workers recruit their neighbours and near and dear ones after obtaining visas on their own.
In 2013, a very insignificant number of job-seekers went abroad from the northern region of Bangladesh. As per the BMET figure, of 409,253 migrants, only 2,798 or 0.71 per cent workers were from Naogaon, 1,983 or 0.50 per cent from Natore, 198 or 0.28 per cent from Kurigram, 873 or 0.34 per cent from Nilphamari, 1,496 or 0.38 from Gaibandha and 1,213 or 0.31 per cent from Rangpur district.
The highest percentage migration was 11.37 for Comilla, followed by 8.69 per cent for Chittagong and 5.24 per cent for Brahmanbaria in 2013.
Earlier, the government gave an instruction to private manpower agencies to recruit more workers from the poverty-stricken areas, but they did not follow the instruction, said an official.
He said private agents considered their financial benefits. So they were averse to the instruction.
A job-seeker spends Tk 1.0 to Tk 1.2 million for a job in Saudi Arabia, Tk 0.7 to Tk 0.8 million for a job in Qatar and Tk 0.3 to Tk 0.4 million for a job in Malaysia through tourist visa and Tk 0.25 to Tk 0.40 million for a job in Libya, say` migrants.
Refugee and Migratory Movement Research Unit (RMMRU) founding chair Tasnim Siddiqui said the government should formulate an effective policy to reduce such an imbalance in migration.
It should activate its District Employment and Manpower Office (DEMO) offices in northern and south-western districts so that poor job-seeking youths could get proper support in migration at a low cost, she said.
Besides, the government could give priority to the neglected areas while recruiting manpower through the Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (BOESL).
Secretary to the Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Khandaker Shawkat Hossain said the government was trying to make up for such an imbalances.
He said the government had taken various initiatives to reduce migration cost to facilitate overseas employment of the poor people.
Besides, under the government database system, people would get overseas jobs in accordance with the density of population in each area.
A large number of job-seekers from northern and south-western districts were included in the database, he added.
Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) senior vice president Ali Haider Chowdhury said there were few private recruiting agencies in northern areas of Bangladesh. It was a major reason the less labour migration from these areas, he added.
Besides, the people of those areas are very homesick. They do not like to come out of their homes for securing jobs, he added.
About 8.8 million Bangladeshis secured jobs abroad during the period from 1976 to till now, BMET official figures revealed.