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Bangladeshi Labour Migration to the Gulf Countries: Patterns of Recruitment in the Middle East

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    This article was downloaded by: [NUS National University of Singapore]On: 26 June 2012, At: 19:45Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

    Canadian Journal of Development

    Studies/Revue canadienne d'tudes du

    dveloppementPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcjd20

    Bangladeshi labour migration to the

    Gulf states: patterns of recruitment

    and processesMd Mizanur Rahman

    a

    aInstitute of South Asian Studies, National University of

    Singapore, Singapore

    Available online: 26 Jun 2012

    To cite this article: Md Mizanur Rahman (2012): Bangladeshi labour migration to the Gulfstates: patterns of recruitment and processes, Canadian Journal of Development Studies/Revuecanadienne d'tudes du dveloppement, 33:2, 214-230

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    Bangladeshi labour migration to the Gulf states: patterns of recruitment

    and processes

    Md Mizanur Rahman

    Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore, Singapore

    ABSTRACT The Gulf countries in the Middle East are one of the largest regions relying oninternational labour migrants for economic development. Recruitment constitutes animportant part of this migration of labour. This study addresses the complexity andmultiplicity of labour recruitment in the Gulf countries through a case study of Bangladeshi

    labour recruitment. This study examines the labour recruitment to the Gulf, combiningnetworks and institutions to highlight both the operational and economic aspects of migrantrecruitment. This article reveals how migrant networks and recruitment agencies adapt to thechanging practices of recruitment to funnel migrant workers to the GCC countries and makeprofits out of the migrant workers in the recruitment process.

    RESUME Les pays du Golfe constituent une des plus grandes regions reliant sur la migration demain duvre pour le developpement economique. Le recrutement joue un role important danscette migration. Ce travail addresse la complexite et la multiplicite du recrutement dans les paysdu Golfe en analysant un cas detude au Bangladesh. Cette etude examine le processus derecrutement, particulierement les reseaux et les institutions qui soulignent les aspectsoperationaux et economiques de la migration. En plus, cette etude revele ladaptation des

    reseaux de migration et des agences de recrutement aux pratiques changeants dans lerecrutement ainsi bien que les strategies employees pour assurer leur profit.

    Keywords: labour migration; migrant worker recruitment; Gulf migration; temporarymigration; international migration

    Introduction

    The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states have emerged as one of the largest regions

    relying on temporary labour migrants since the early 1970s (Arnold and Shah 1986, Eelens and

    Speckmann 1990, Shah 1994a). By the 1980s, migrant workers had outstripped the local work-force in the six member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar,

    Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) (Suter 2005, p. 28). The number of

    migrant workers has increased from 9 million in 1990 to an estimated 13 million in 2005 (Dito

    2008, p. 6). Migrants constitute a majority of the labour force in all the GCC countries, with

    the average for 2004 coming to 70 per cent (Kapiszewski 2006, p. 4) and the average for 2008

    reaching 77 per cent (Winckler 2010, p. 12, Baldwin-Edwards 2011, p. 9). In particular, recruit-

    ment has made it possible to hire millions of migrants to the Gulf countries for temporary employ-

    ment (Eelens and Speckmann 1990, Esim and Smith 2004, Kuptsch 2006, Shah 2010).

    ISSN 0225-5189 print/ISSN 2158-9100 online

    # 2012 Canadian Association for the Study of International Development (CASID)

    http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02255189.2012.689612

    http://www.tandfonline.com

    Email: [email protected]

    Canadian Journal of Development Studies

    Revue canadienne detudes du developpement

    Vol. 33, No. 2, June 2012, 214230

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    In the migration of labour, several institutions play a role in assisting prospective migrants

    move between regions. Such institutions include: employers who directly recruit prospective

    migrants; public employment services that match local workers with foreign jobs; migrant net-

    works that facilitate access to foreign labour market; and private and for-profit recruitment

    agencies that serve the prospective migrants (Martin 2005, 2006, Kuptsch 2006). Together

    they form a recruitment structure which facilitates the recruitment of migrant workers in the

    Gulf. Prospective migrants may consult with and use the services of any of these labour interme-

    diaries. Over time, however, direct employers and public employment services have substantially

    declined, while migrant networks and private agents have increased worldwide (Martin 2005,

    p. xii). In the Gulf countries, the role of direct employment and public employment services

    for low-skilled migrant workers has almost disappeared due to the rising number and the increas-

    ing diversity of migrants. In addition, the efficiency of networks and private agencies in recruiting

    labour migrants has also contributed to the waning influence of direct employers and public

    employment agencies (IOM 2004, Kuptsch 2006, Shah 2010, Ullah 2010).

    The existing literature explicitly suggests that recruitment agencies and migrant networks play

    a critical role in recruiting transient labour from South Asian countries to the GCC countries(Arnold and Shah 1986, Eelens and Speckmann 1990, Eelens et al. 1991, Shah and Menon

    1999, Gamburd 2000, Zachariah et al. 2001). However, at a theoretical and conceptual level,

    most of the existing literature focuses either on the role of migrant networks or on the role of

    recruitment agencies in the recruitment process. The explanation of labour recruitment also

    tends to concentrate more on the operational aspect of recruitment that is, how recruitment

    takes place in the migration process as opposed to analysing the prevalence and size of economic

    transactions. The economic aspect of the Gulf recruitment process is crucial, yet under explored.

    There is also little attempt to link the operational aspects with the economic side of recruitments.

    Focusing on the experiences of Bangladeshi migrants to the Gulf countries, this study exam-

    ines the labour recruitment process from a holistic perspective, combining both networks andinstitutions to highlight both the operational and the economic aspects of labour recruitment.

    Linking these two aspects allows the study to unravel some of the complexities which exist

    within contemporary migrant recruitment in the Gulf. Bangladeshi migrants have joined the

    Gulf countries since the mid-1970s and Bangladesh since then has emerged as one of the

    major labour-sending countries from South Asia. Despite being a major labour-contributing

    country for the Gulf, Bangladeshi labour recruitment has thus far received inadequate attention

    in current migration studies. This study attempts to close the gap in the existing knowledge.

    This study is broadly divided into two parts: the operational and the economic aspects of

    recruitment. In the operational dimension, the study covers a wide range of issues such as recruit-

    ment structure, licensed manpower recruiting agencies, their recruitment methods, migrant net-works and their respective methods. Regarding the economics of recruitment, the study

    explains methods of payment for recruitment fees and provides the economic cost of recruitment

    to the Gulf counties. Before addressing the broader recruitment issues, the next section offers

    theoretical and conceptual issues to migrant recruitment in the Gulf, followed by data sources

    for the study. The subsequent section provides the trends and patterns of Bangladeshi migration

    to the Gulf countries. Part of this section describes the socio-demographic profile of the migrant

    workers in the Gulf, followed by a section on the kafala system under which migrants are invited

    to work in the Gulf countries.

    Theoretical and conceptual issues

    Network analyses have generated enormous literature, explaining how networks facilitate and

    sustains migration across international borders (Massey et al. 1987, Boyd 1989, Faist 2000).

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    Existing studies demonstrate that non-migrants, migrants and returnees are linked to each other

    through social and symbolic ties that offer the social bedrock for sustained migration flows

    across international borders (MacDonald and MacDonald 1974, Gurak and Caces 1992, Shah

    1996, Shah and Menon 1999, Rahman 2009). Social ties are often defined as a continuing

    series of interpersonal transactions to which participants attach shared interests, obligations,

    expectations and norms, such as family and kinship ties, and symbolic ties as a perceived

    bond to which participants attach shared meanings, memories and future expectations, such as

    regional, national, ethnic and religious ties (Faist 2000). The content of social and symbolic

    ties obligations, reciprocity and solidarity contributes to the evolution of migrant networks

    and the sustenance of the migration flows across international borders (Faist 2000, Massey

    et al. 1987).

    In the migrant network literature, social reward and social debt are usually behind the func-

    tioning of network-mediated migration (Boyd 1989, Faist 2000). However, there have been some

    changes in the modalities of network-assisted migration, especially in low-level migrant worker

    recruitment in the Gulf countries. This is partly due to the commercialisation of recruitment in the

    Gulf countries, popularly called visa-trading (Shah 2008, De Bel-Air 2011). In the visa-tradingsystem, recruitment agents and key members of migrant networks at the destination are required

    to pay the Gulf employers/sponsors in order to procure work visas for prospective migrantworkers. The financial transaction involved in the visa trading has transformed the modality

    and scale of transactions for intermediaries of both migrant networks and recruiting agencies

    alike (Shah 2008, De Bel-Air 2011). Forced by market pressures, actors of migrant networks

    are now required to charge fees to the prospective migrant for Gulf work visas, leading to

    the commercialisation of network-assisted recruitment.

    The other key intermediary of labour recruitment is private recruiting agencies involved in

    serving prospective migrants for a fee. Recruitment agencies act as private gatekeepers, managing

    the modalities that condition access for individuals seeking overseas employment (Goss andLindquist 1995). A recruiting agency is a national-level contact point for a foreign recruiting

    agency or foreign employers. Recruiting agencies usually have control over information that

    allows them to negotiate with prospective migrants and their potential employers. They introduce

    the prospective migrants to the foreign partners (employers and other recruiters). There has been a

    remarkable expansion of private recruitment agencies in the last few decades. In fact, there may be

    as many as several thousand recruiting agencies in each major source country in South Asia and

    South-east Asia (Martin 2006, Baruah 2006, Lian and Rahman 2006). Considering the role in the

    recruitment process, some scholars refer to networks as the engines of migration (Phillips and

    Massey 2000) and other scholar refers to recruiting agencies as the other engines of migration

    (Hernandez-Leon 2005, p. 2).To explain the recent changes in recruitment practices, scholars present some mid-level con-

    cepts such as migration institution, migration industry and merchants of labour (Goss and

    Lindquist 1995, Kuptsch 2006, Castles and Miller 2008). For instance, Jon Goss and Bruce Lind-

    quist present the concept migrant institution, which draws on Anthony Giddenss structuration

    theory (Goss and Lindquist 1995). The migrant institution is conceived as a complex institution

    consisting of knowledgeable individuals and the agents of organisations (from migrant associ-

    ations to multinational corporations) and the other institutions from kinship to the state (Goss

    and Lindquist 1995, p. 336). The argument is that the institution operates to facilitate overseas

    migration because intermediaries profit from the price that potential migrants are willing to pay.

    An International Labour Organization (ILO) study on migrant workers and facilitators of

    migration has developed the concept merchants of labour to refer to public and private

    agents who move workers over national borders for economic rewards (Kuptsch 2006). These

    merchants of labour include relatives who finance a migrants trip and provide housing and

    216 M.M. Rahman

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    arrange for a job abroad, as well as public employment services and private recruitment agencies.

    This group includes virtually all intermediaries who make a profit from migrant workers. Another

    concept that has been in use for quite a while is that of migration industry; it embraces a wide

    range of people who earn their livelihood by organising migratory movements (Castles and Miller

    2008, p. 201). Such individuals include travel agents, labour recruiters, brokers, interpreters,

    housing agents, immigration lawyers, human smugglers and all others who extract fees from

    potential migrants for their services. One commonality between merchants of labour and actors

    in the migration institution and industry is the service fees that they charge to the prospective

    migrants. These terms particularly connote the presence of a formal and commodified form of

    labour recruitment. While I agree that labour recruitment has been formalised and commodified

    over time, I also suggest that informal elements and traditional actors are still crucial to the under-

    standing of labour recruitment in the Gulf.

    The terms recruitment fees and economic costs of recruitment demand a conceptual clar-

    ification. Though both recruitment fees and economic costs of recruitment refer to the expenses

    that migrants might incur during the recruitment process, they vary depending on the patterns of

    payment within the recruitment and migration process. Since male migrants are usually requiredto pay the expenses for recruitment out of their own pockets prior to arriving at the destination

    country, the economic costs of recruitment usually refer to the expenses that male migrants

    incur in the recruitment process. In some predominantly male migrant-sending countries such

    as Bangladesh and Pakistan, the term economic costs of recruitment is widely used. On the con-

    trary, female migrants in Asia often do not need to pay the expenses for recruitment out of their

    own pockets prior to migration. This is due to the fact that sponsor-employers often pay for

    womens migration especially in domestic worker migration and deduct the advance

    payment from the monthly salary of female workers when they start working in the destination

    country. In some predominantly female migrant-sending countries (such as the Philippines and

    Indonesia), the term recruitment fees or placement fees are usually used as a substitute forthe economic costs of migration (Jones and Pardthaisong 1998, Wee and Sim 2004, Rahman

    and Lian 2009, Lindquist 2010, Wilcke 2011).

    A key difference between the recruitment of men and women in the Gulf is that men must

    generally pay a fee to the recruitment agency prior to departure, while women usually do not

    (Rahman 2011). Recently, Johan Lindquist elaborates the gendered differentiated patterns of

    recruitment by showing that while capital flows down in the migration of women, for the

    migration of men capital flows up, from the migrant to the recruitment agency and sponsor

    (Lindquist 2010). South Asian male migrants usually enjoy the privileges of active expenses in

    the recruitment process, by choosing service providers themselves and paying them upfront.

    This quality of choosing the service providers and paying the incurred expenses upfront justifiescalling the payment for recruitment economic cost of recruitment rather than the seemingly

    binding recruitment fees. However, the critical issue in the recruitment of men from South

    Asia is precisely paying the economic costs of recruitment. This study is advanced in this econ-

    omic context of recruitment.

    Data sources

    This research is based principally on the Bangladesh household remittance survey (BHRS) con-

    ducted in 2009. The BHRS collected information from a nationally representative sample of

    10,926 migrant households. The BHRS was implemented by the International Organization for

    Migration (IOM) in Dhaka with financial support from the UKs Department for International

    Development (DFID). Unlike the small-scale surveys (e.g. small migrant worker surveys or

    village case studies) that limit the scope of research and delay the generalisability of the study,

    Bangladeshi labour migration to the Gulf states 217

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    the strength of the representative survey lies in its ability to generalise the study and to elucidate

    the findings with confidence. In addition to the survey data, the study also draws from qualitative

    interviews of prospective migrants, returnees and members of migrant households in Bangladesh

    and of migrant workers and migrant brokers in the UAE and Qatar conducted between 2008

    and 2009.

    The BHRS covered migrant households across the country through a nationally representative

    sample from all seven administrative divisions of Bangladesh.2 The districts of the seven div-

    isions of the country were divided into two strata, with one stratum consisting of more concen-

    tration of migrant (MCM) households and the other stratum consisting of less concentration of

    migrant (LCM) households. Following this, clusters were formed with one or more mauzas (near

    synonymous with a village), depending on the clusters size as set in terms of number of general

    households. These clusters were selected independently from each stratum using the probability

    proportional to size (PPS) method of selection. The total sample was made up of 457 clusters

    (i.e. 257 from MCM districts and 200 from LCM districts). All households in every selected

    cluster were listed, identifying only the migrant households. Household listings were done by

    taking a complete census of the households in each of the clusters. This involved visitingevery household in the designated area.

    In the survey, a migrant household was defined as a household that had at least one of its

    members living or working abroad for at least one year at the time of the survey. The selection

    of the migrant household was made independently of their current status (e.g. regular or irregular)

    in the country of destination. The head or other responsible member of the household was inter-

    viewed in the survey. The survey covered a wide range of migration issues encompassing a

    variety of factors: the socio-economic background of the migrants; the process and the economic

    cost of migration; the working and living conditions migrants faced; the remittances sent to the

    migrants home countries; and, finally, the impact of remittances on the migrant households.

    The total number of migrants in the survey was 12,893 and approximately three-quarters ofthe surveyed migrants (n 9,292) were working in the GCC countries. Of these 9,292 migrants,

    9,154 (98.52%) were male and 138 (1.48%) were female. Given the nature of survey and the

    number of cases, the study is expected to produce much needed insight into the recruitment

    experience of Bangladeshi migrants in the Gulf countries.

    Bangladeshi labour migration to the GCC countries

    The 1973 oil boom and the subsequent undertaking of an unprecedented number of development

    projects led to an extremely rapid increase in the demand for foreign labour in the Gulf region

    (Arnold and Shah 1986, Birks et al. 1988, Winckler 2010). Among Arab countries, there was con-siderable labour mobility in the pre-1973 era (Humphrey 1991, IOM 2010). However, the

    migration of Asian labour in the post-1973 era marked a shift from predominance of Arab

    labour migration to Asian labour migration in the Gulf states (Arnold and Shah 1986, Humphrey

    1991, Winckler 2010). Since 1975, Asian workers have gained an increasing share of the migrant

    labour market, and between 1976 and 1981 the annual labour migration flows of Asian workers

    increased sevenfold, from 146,000 to over a million (Humphrey 1991, p. 47). Asian labour-

    sending countries accounted for more than 63 per cent of the migrant worker stock in the

    Gulf states in 1985 (Birks et al. 1988, p. 268). Currently, Asia is the major human resource-

    contributing region for the GCC states.

    The GCC countries are the major destination for Bangladeshi migrants. To seize the opportu-

    nity for temporary employment in the GCC countries, Bangladesh launched a government agency

    called the Bureau of manpower, employment and training (BMET) in 1976. BMET keeps track of

    migrants who take clearance from this government agency before migrating overseas for work.

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    In other words, BMET maintains authorised labour migration statistics. There is no official pro-

    cedure to record returning migrants to Bangladesh. As a result, the data provided below represent

    authorised migrants who left for work in the GCC countries. According to BMET, around 5.3

    million Bangladeshi migrants joined in the GCC states between 1976 and 2010.3 Nearly

    80,000 migrants went to the GCC countries for work between 1976 and 1980. The total

    number of emigrants departed for work in the GCC countries reached nearly 1 million

    between 1981 and 1990, around 1.9 million between 1991 and 2000, and approximately 2.4

    million between 2001 and 2010 (Figure 1). Almost half of the total migrants joined the labour

    market of Saudi Arabia. The GCC countries are the major source of remittances for Bangladesh.

    Nearly two-thirds of the US$11 billion remittances in 2010 came from the GCC countries (World

    Bank 2010).

    Socio-demographic profiles of the migrants in the GCC countries

    Of the 9,292 Gulf migrants in the sample, 48 per cent of the migrants were working in Saudi

    Arabia, 34 per cent in the UAE, 8 per cent in Kuwait, 5 per cent in Oman, 3 per cent in Qatar

    and 2 per cent in Bahrain. As mentioned in the previous section, Bangladeshi migration to the

    Gulf countries is predominantly a male phenomenon: 98.5 per cent in the 2009 survey.

    Overall, approximately three-fourths of the migrants were in their 20s and 30s, the average age

    being 32 years. Also, around 63 per cent of migrants were married and their wives were living

    in Bangladesh. Of the married migrants, 87 per cent had children. Wives left behind were primar-

    ily homemakers, taking care of children and in-law families. Remittances were often the only

    source of incomes for these migrant households.

    Educational attainment of the surveyed migrants was low. Approximately 30 per cent of

    migrants completed only one to five years of schooling and 50 per cent finished six to ten

    years of schooling. Of the remaining 20 per cent, half had no formal schooling, while theother half had finished higher secondary and other vocational training courses. In terms of

    employment before their migration to the Gulf countries, 81 per cent of the migrants were

    working in Bangladesh and were engaged in a wide range of occupations from agricultural, indus-

    trial labour to small business and artisans. After migration, major types of work these migrants

    were doing in the GCC countries included construction, janitorial work, driving, factory work,

    the hospitality industry, general labour gardening and small businesses. The duration of stay is

    Figure 1. Bangladeshi labour migration to the GCC states, 1976 2010.Source: Authors compilation, based on data from BMET (2011a).

    Bangladeshi labour migration to the Gulf states 219

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    considered an important indicator of economic success, as the longer the stay the more economi-

    cally beneficial it is for migrants. Approximately 34 per cent of migrants were living in the Gulf

    countries for one to two years, 22 per cent for three to five years, and 23 per cent for six to ten

    years. Remarkably, nearly 20 per cent of the surveyed migrants had been working abroad for a

    period of 11 to 21 years or more. On average, the duration of stay of migrants was 6.27 years.

    The kafala system labour recruitment in the Gulf

    The Gulf countries have developed a sophisticated migration management system that shares two

    common policy stances of international migration: protectionism and the absence of any project

    for integrating immigrants into society (Fargues 2006, p. 18). Philippe Fargues suggests that the

    Gulf migration policy is protectionist in two ways: by making the entry and stay of foreign

    workers more difficult; and by giving priority to the employment of nationals commonly

    known as Emiratisation, Saudisation, Qatarisation, Kuwaitisation, Bahrainisation and Omanisa-

    tion initiatives (Fargues 2006). While the former policy has achieved remarkable success, the

    latter policy, indigenisation of labour force, has not fully achieved its goals, resulting in sustainedflow of migrant workers to the Gulf countries (Toledo 2006, Dito 2008).

    Labour recruitment in the GCC countries is governed by the kafala system (Shah 1994b,

    Longva 1999, Colton 2010, Baldwin-Edwards 2011, De Bel-Air 2011). In the kafala system, a

    migrant is sponsored by an employer of GCC citizens who assumes full economic and legal

    responsibility for the foreign employee during the contract period. The kafeel(sponsor-employer)

    may be an individual, a placement agency or a company/institution. The kafeel signs a formwhereby he or she declares that the foreigner works for him or her, undertakes to inform the immi-

    gration department of any change in the labour contract such as expiry, renewal or cancellation,

    and lastly pledges to repatriate the employee upon termination of the contract (for details, see

    Longva 1999). The migrant worker thereby is tied to his or her kafeel. The system works suchthat the migrant worker can only work for him or her for a specific period.

    Recently, Francoise De Bel-Air offers a two-fold classification ofkafeels: small or occasional

    kafeels; and big kafeels (De Bel-Air 2011, p. 3). Small kafeels operate within small-scale,

    person-to-person frameworks such as employment of domestic workers. However, big

    kafeels usually set up national-level networks and possess adequate means and resources to

    lobby for work visas. Many big kafeels are believed to be involved in visa trading. In visa

    trading, the kafeelsells the work visa to the prospective migrant through intermediary for financial

    benefit. Since the visa trading generates kickback fees for kafeels, it has been a multi-million

    dollar industry in the Gulf (Shah 2008). In the UAE, for instance, a work visa for an Indian is

    sold for around US$2,000 (or AED7,500) (Shah 2008, p. 9) and for a Pakistani aroundUS$2,700 to 3,000 (AED10,000 to 12,000) (Gulf News 2004). The scale of visa trading is

    massive. For instance, the Saudi Minister of Labour reported in the Arab NewsSaudi Arabia

    that 70 per cent of the visas issued by the government are sold on the black market and the gov-

    ernment has been determined to crack down on this particular trade (Shah 2008, p. 9).

    Kafeels often hold passport and other travel documents and sometimes exploit migrants by

    denying proper wages and conditions of employment to them (Colton 2010, Gardner 2010). In

    the kafala system, the change of kafeel is not impossible but entails hurdling bureaucratic pro-

    cedures. Once the employment relationship is broken, foreign workers become illegal residents.

    Foreign workers are not allowed to marry or be involved in sexual relationships with locals; dom-

    estic workers bodies are put under medical surveillance to detect sexual activity. The kafala

    system has been met with much criticism over the years. For instance, it is accused of encouraging

    corruption, visa trafficking, as well as the import of workers that widely outpaces labour market

    needs (De Bel-Air 2011, p. 10). The system ensures additional lucrative incomes for local

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    sponsors and, despite some genuine interests, governments in the Gulf countries have failed to

    bring about meaningful changes in the visa-trading system largely because of pressure from

    business elites and clan members (Shah 2008, De Bel-Air 2011).

    It is worth mentioning that the sponsorship system is not unique to the GCC countries. This

    approach to temporary migration management regarding the purpose and the control mechanisms

    employed can also be found in East Asia and South-east Asia (Chan and Abdullah 1999, Ruhs

    2002, Piper 2004). Temporary migration programs are, in essence, a demand-driven system

    that serves the interests of both parties employers and migrants (Rahman 2008). On the one

    hand, it is efficient in satisfying the needs of employers and is therefore capable of generating

    higher benefits for the host country. On the other hand, it is economically beneficial for the

    migrants and their home countries because it spawns remittances that directly go to the

    migrant families who genuinely require these funds. However, the kafala system has been

    misused to create financial gain from the potential migrants through the help of intermediaries

    in the recruitment process.

    The operational aspect of recruitment

    Recruitment structure

    In the recruitment process, prospective migrants in Bangladesh use the services of four public and

    private institutions the BMET (Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training), Bangladesh

    Overseas Employment Services Limited (BOESL), recruiting agencies and migrant networks

    and together they form a semi-coherent system of governance that facilitates smooth flows of

    labour overseas. The Bangladeshi governments most prominent structure regulating migration

    is the BMET, established in 1976. The BMET issues and renews the licenses of recruiting

    agencies, grants permission to agencies to recruit, provides immigration clearances after verifying

    visa papers and employment contracts, looks after the welfare of Bangladeshi workers abroad andmanages many other functions related to training of workers and promotion of migration over-

    seas. Presently, the BMET is under the administrative control of the newly established Ministry

    of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment.

    While the BMET supervises and controls recruitment, actual recruitment takes place through

    three other channels: a government-run organisation called BOESL; private recruiting agencies;

    and migrant networks. The government-run organisation for overseas employment established in

    1984, BOESL is mainly involved in migration of highly skilled professionals overseas. The role

    of BOESL in skilled and professional migration is not necessarily significant. Out of 179,910

    professional migrants who took up overseas placement between 1976 and 2008, only 14,811 pro-

    fessional migrants found jobs through the BOESL (BMET 2011b). The agency coordinates withBangladeshi missions abroad in assessing the needs of labour and puts up advertisements in news-

    papers for recruitment. BOESL is seen as a model institution in the manpower sector to work in

    healthy competition with the private agencies.

    Private recruiting agencies emerged in response to the growing demand for labour overseas in

    the late 1970s. There are around 700 licensed private recruiting agents in Bangladesh (BAIRA

    2011). The government regulates recruiting agencies through a combination of economic leverage

    and bureaucratic requirements. Recruiting agencies assisted nearly 37 per cent (2.33 million) of a

    total of 6.26 million overseas job placements between 1976 and 2008 (BMET 2011b). Recruiting

    agencies have a guild known as the Bangladesh Association International Recruiting Agencies

    (BAIRA), formed in 1984 with the purpose of catering to the needs of the licensed recruiting

    agencies. BAIRA is also involved in the welfare of the migrants overseas. They have launched

    two insurance schemes: one is for the workers before their departure and the other is for their

    families left behind, through BAIRA Life Insurance Company Limited. BAIRA is also setting

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    up a modern medical testing center with elaborate facilities for migrants who need to undergo

    medical tests before leaving the country.

    Personal connections form a crucial avenue for overseas placement in Bangladesh. These

    reportedly assisted 62 per cent (3.88 million) of a total of 6.26 million overseas job placements

    between 1976 and 2008 (BMET 2011b). The growth of migration through personal connections

    is cumulative. More and more migrants have started taking the services of personal networks over

    the years. For instance, 524 migrants took the services of personal networks in the year 1976,

    which escalated to 16,585 in the year 1980, 63,121 in the year 1990, 130,686 in the year

    2000, and 665,092 in the year 2008. As per the survey data, nearly 58 per cent of surveyed

    migrants (9,292) took the services of personal networks to migrate to the GCC countries. Recruit-

    ing agencies served the remaining 42 per cent.

    Recruiting agencies: the work visa

    Migration for work though a recruiting agency proceeds as follows (see Figure 2). A recruitingagency in a Gulf country places a demand letter with their counterpart in Bangladesh, asking

    for certain number of migrants for certain occupations. The recruiting agency in Bangladesh

    then approaches BMET for initial clearance. Once the agency gains approval, they actively

    search for prospective migrants and ask them to submit passport, pictures, biographical infor-

    mation, work experience (including relevant certificates) and a partial payment to begin the

    recruitment process. At this juncture, the Bangladeshi recruiting agency contacts their counterpart

    in the Gulf for visa processing. The potential sponsor-employer will then secure the visa from the

    relevant authority and pass the visa to the recruiting agency in the receiving country. This foreign

    recruiting agency then sends the visa to the recruiting agency in Bangladesh. From the time the

    potential migrants give their passport to the agency to the time they can commence work abroad,as little as a few weeks or as much as several months may pass.

    Although an overview of how recruiting agencies work may seem simple, the actual recruit-

    ment procedures are much more complex and multilayered. Along with formal recruiting

    agents, some informal agents located at different points throughout the system have come to

    assist in the process. Generally, most prospective migrants hail from villages in Bangladesh,

    but recruiting agencies based in the capital city of Dhaka encounter difficulties locating prospec-

    tive migrants who might be suitable for particular jobs and who are ready to pay the required fees.

    As a result, the recruiting agents rely overwhelmingly on a group called subagents who act as

    middlemen between a prospective migrant and a licensed recruiting agent. For an extra fee,

    these subagents help prospective migrants find jobs and help agencies find prospective workersin a more timely fashion. Although the position of subagent in the official structure is marginal,

    they play a critical role in matching the demand for specific labour and the supply of such labour.

    The subagents approach the prospective migrants and convince them to take up the particular

    offer in the GCC countries. The tru,e challenge of this job is the subagents need to earn the trust

    of prospective migrants. Given the fact that migration can incur costs of several thousands of

    dollars, a prospective migrant from a village prefers to deal with someone who embodies trust

    such as rural religious, economic and political elites, so that they have a local contact to approach

    in cases of fraud and exploitation. Subagents are generally based in small cities or villages and

    have good contacts with these elites, if they themselves are not already one. Subagents assist pro-

    spective migrants with a wide range of activities such as paperwork, passports, bank accounts,

    medical checkups and transportation to the airport. In addition to facilitating the actual migration

    process, they sometimes vouch to the traditional moneylenders that potential clients have already

    secured jobs in the Gulf and therefore are eligible for credit. They can even act as guarantor for

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    some potential migrants who otherwise could not secure loans for migration, expanding the role

    of subagents beyond the simple matching task.

    Personal connections: the urro or flying (work) visa

    As migration matures, many potential migrants learn more about the process of migration and the

    way to seek alternative services for jobs in the GCC countries. Instead of finding jobs with

    agencies, many potential migrants seek jobs arranged with sponsor-employers in the Gulf

    countries through some migrant brokers already connected by social and symbolic ties.

    Migrant brokers, or what Bangladeshi migrants call dalal (broker) or adam babshahi

    (human-trader), are usually former migrant workers living in the Gulf countries for a considerable

    amount of time and having greater access to local recruitment structure and visas.

    A working visa arranged through personal networks is called urro or a flying (work) visa, as it

    flies directly from a migrant broker in the Gulf countries to a prospective migrant in Bangladesh,

    bypassing local recruiting agencies and their subagents. This is different from getting a visa

    through a recruiting agency. In the recruiting agencies, a sponsor-employer passes the visa to a

    foreign recruiting agency, which later goes to the Bangladeshi recruiting agency and finally to

    the prospective migrant. Arranging a flying visa usually proceeds as follows (see Figure 2). A

    migrant broker finds a job for a friend or relative with usually his kafeel (sponsor-employer) or

    kafeels network of friends and relatives. After successfully identifying a potential kafeel, a

    migrant broker arranges for a photocopy of a passport, a picture and other relevant papers depending

    on the profile of employee (skilled or unskilled) to pass to potential kafeelfor a work visa. Once a

    work visa is procured, the migrant broker sends it to the potential migrant in Bangladesh with a

    request to finish all local procedures such as medical check-ups, BMET clearance, and fly to the

    particular Gulf country within a stipulated period (usually less than three months). The flying

    visa benefits the mediating contact, as he charges a commission to the potential receiver, and thekafeel, as he saves agency fees in his country of origin, in addition to kickback fees in most cases.

    More importantly, the strategy of procuring a working visa through personal connections

    demonstrates the individual migrants ability to circumvent bureaucratic procedures and the

    Figure 2. Recruitment structure for Bangladeshi labour migration to the GCC states.

    Bangladeshi labour migration to the Gulf states 223

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    rising costs of Gulf migration. Since the procurement of a flying visa does not involve local

    mediators in Bangladesh, in particular the subagents and agents, the flying visa benefits the

    potential migrant who receives it. Depending on the nature of ties (social or symbolic ties)

    between prospective migrant and migrant broker, the amount of the fees and the timing of

    payment can vary considerably. The direct benefit of a flying visa is that the recipients

    usually pay part of the set fees out of the first several monthly wages in the destination

    country, forestalling indebtedness to moneylenders in Bangladesh. Although the ever-increasing

    costs of recruitment have made it difficult for many poor potential migrants to secure jobs in the

    Gulf countries, a thriving trade in flying visas has opened the door of affordable employment for

    a growing number of Bangladeshis in the GCC countries.

    It is important to note that the Bangladeshi migration to the Gulf countries is deeply rooted in

    the social process organised through networks and forged through everyday interpersonal connec-

    tions (Rahman 2010). It is founded on a social organisation infrastructure that includes common

    bonds of kinship and friendship, which are adopted and transformed through the reciprocity of

    mass migration. A landless villager in Bangladesh may be poor in financial capital but is often

    rich in social resources (social capital) inherent in such close-knit connections. The beauty ofsocial capital is that it is convertible into other forms of capital such as financial capital or

    access to overseas employment. The actual merit of personal connections is that it increases

    affordability of Gulf migration for those in the social stratum, who may not otherwise envision

    undertaking such a costly venture.

    From flying visa to free visa

    Apart from flying visas, there is another type of visa popular among potential Bangladeshi

    migrants in Gulf countries called a free visa. This type of visa is an invention of migrant

    brokers in the Gulf countries who are involved in the trade of work visas. Although there is no offi-cial category of visas called free visas in the Gulf countries, the term is widely used among

    migrant communities. Pakistanis and some Indian Muslim migrants call it an azad (free) visa.

    This unofficial category of visas allows a potential migrant to enter a GCC country for work

    underkafala system, but the sponsor-employer (kafeel) who officially sponsors the migrant does

    not offer paid work. A migrant on a free visa is free to find his own job in any sector of

    economy, although it is illegal to work in another sector or with a sponsor-employer other than

    ones own (Shah 2008, p. 7). In other words, a free visa is legal, but paradoxically when a

    free-visa holder starts working for others, he becomes illegal by law and vulnerable to deportation.

    A free visa is also obtained through procedures similar to those described above using per-

    sonal networks and recruiting agencies (Figure 2). Both migrant brokers and recruiting agents areinvolved in the trade of free visas in Bangladesh. As there are no legal jobs available for a free-

    visa holder, a free visa is cheaper than flying visa. Many migrant brokers do not recommend a

    free visa to their close relatives for the fear that they may lose social credibility and respect in

    their communities of origin should the free-visa holder fail to find gainful employment and face

    deportation. As a for profit organisation, recruitment agencies dominate the free visa market.

    Like many work visas and flying visas, free visas also generate kickback fees for sponsors/kafeels and this has perhaps given birth to such a dubious category of visas in the Gulf. The benefit

    of a free visa is that the holder can bargain their labour and get a good deal. However, the trade-

    off is that if the free visa holder is caught during working hours by the law enforcement

    authorities, then the holder risks deportation. Several Gulf countries have pledged to tackle

    the issue of free visas and have taken action against people who have abused the system by

    bringing in thousands of foreigners and enabling them to stay for a monthly monetary sum (Pak-

    kiasamy 2004).

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    The economic aspect of recruitment

    In the case of Asian migration to the Gulf countries, wages have fallen and agency recruitment

    costs have risen (Gardner 2010, p. 60). To explain this situation in the Gulf countries,

    Gamburd (2000, p. 63) has identified changing international economic dynamics as the factors

    leading to increasing agency fees and decreasing wages. The benefits of Gulf migration dwindledin the 1980s when employer-sponsors lowered commissions paid to recruiting agencies in the

    Gulf countries (Gamburd 2000, Gardner 2010). With an apparently endless supply of surplus

    labour in source countries in several regions, agencies of these countries can often afford to

    bargain away workers benefits in order to secure jobs and to stay in business. Agencies in

    sending countries easily pass the burden of higher fees to potential migrants. Moreover, most

    sponsor-employers also refuse to pay for airfares, passports and medical examinations for pro-

    spective migrants. Therefore, in addition to recruitment fees, most Asian migrants are also

    bearing these expenses for migration to the Gulf.

    According to the data gathered in the BHMS, the economic cost of recruitment to the GCC

    states was on average BDT195,237 or US$2,750 (2010 exchange rate) (Figure 3). The highest

    average cost was BDT221,683 or US$3,132 for Bahrain and the lowest was BDT174,021 or

    US$2,458 for Kuwait. This average cost of migration is higher than the cost set by the Banglade-

    shi government. The government establishes a price of BDT84,000 (US$1,230) as a maximum

    recruiting charge for migrants going to Gulf states (Martin 2010, p. 12). Given the reported

    average costs of migration, it is obvious that recruiting agencies largely ignore this maximum.

    In recognition of the high cost of migration, this study delves into distribution of recruitment

    expenses. For the convenience of understanding, the study divides the economic cost of recruit-

    ment into formal fees and intermediary fees. Formal fees include government fees, passport fees,

    air tickets, wage earners contributions and other relevant mandatory service fees in Bangladesh.

    Intermediary fees include both recruiting agency and migrant broker fees and fees charged by

    other facilitators such as subagents and network members. Formal fees represent around 23 percent (US$633), while the intermediary fees nearly 77 per cent (US$2,117).

    The fee for intermediaries is excessively high as a kickback is inherent in the intermediary

    fees. Some Bangladeshi recruiting agents and migrant brokers reported the kickback fee

    between US$1,500 and US$1,800 for each work visa. However, the kickback fee varies depend-

    ing on the sector of economy. The kickback fees for work in construction sector are reported to be

    the lowest as it is more demanding and less rewarding, while the fees for the service sector are the

    highest as the sector is viewed as less demanding but more rewarding. The kickback fee, inter-

    mediary fee and subagent fee are charged unofficially, leaving no trace for documentary proof

    Figure 3. Distribution of economic cost of recruitment.

    Bangladeshi labour migration to the Gulf states 225

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    or legal recourse. When the survey asked about the rising cost of migration, actors at different

    levels often turned their discussion of unethical behavior toward actors elsewhere in the insti-

    tutional structure. The different perspectives reveal conflicts and contradictions within the

    recruitment structure in the Bangladesh Gulf migration corridor.

    Conclusion

    This study has shown how recruitment of labour takes place across international borders by

    linking and explaining both the operational and the economic aspects in the example of Bangla-

    deshi labour recruitment to the Gulf states. The study illustrates the role of both institutional and

    network players in the recruitment process. It continues to elaborate the kafala system that forms

    the legal basis for labour recruitment in the GCC countries. The policies of entries and exits for

    migrant labour are mostly dictated by economic imperatives and informed by the principle of

    minimal social disruptions. This study has also explained how the recruitment structure of

    Bangladesh has evolved over time to facilitate the recruitment of millions of migrants to the

    Gulf countries. Four major players are identified: the BMET; BOESL; recruiting agencies; andmigrant networks. These form a semi-coherent system of governance and facilitate Bangladeshi

    migration to the Gulf countries.

    The study has shown that recruiting agencies and migrant networks are currently the actual

    players in labour recruitment in Bangladesh. The recruitment agencies and migrant brokers

    have different yet complementary roles in the overall recruitment process. Recruiting agencies

    work in collaboration with their counterparts in the Gulf countries and use subagents to reach

    to the potential migrants. They are formal profit-making organisations serving prospective

    migrants who seek jobs in the Gulf labour markets. In network-based recruitment, a migrant

    broker in a Gulf country secures a work visa, known as a flying visa, for prospective migrants

    in Bangladesh. The prospective migrants and migrant brokers are often connected by social andsymbolic ties. The migrant broker charges fees for services, but a full payment is not always

    required depending on the level and strength of ties; the prospective migrant may pay off a

    part of the set fee after working in the destination countries for the first few months.

    The study has documented the ingenuity of migrant brokers in circumventing the convention-

    al route to labour recruitment. Migrant brokers have invented other types of visas, the urro visa

    (flying visa) and the free visa to meet the increasing requests from relatives and community

    members in Bangladesh. When a visa is procured through personal networks, bypassing local

    recruiting agencies and their subagents in Bangladesh, it is popularly called an urro visa. Since

    an urro visa does not require local mediators services, it is relatively more affordable for potential

    migrants. The invention of the urro visa demonstrates the capability of migrant agency to circum-vent bureaucratic procedures and rising costs of Gulf migration. With the other type of visa, called

    a free visa in Bangladesh and an azad visa in Pakistan and India, the kafeel is not liable for

    offering paid jobs to the visa holder; the holder is free to find his own job and bargain his

    labour costs. Thus, the free visa represents the ultimate will of migrants to find their jobs them-

    selves and exercise bargaining power over their labour by being independent ofkafeels everyday

    interventions in the Gulf.

    This study has shown how economic transactions in the recruitment process generate profit for

    service providers such as recruiting agents, subagents and migrant brokers in Bangladesh and the

    Gulf. The economic cost of migration for migrants is quantified, as are the financial benefits

    migration generates for different service providers in the recruitment process. Of an average

    cost of US$2,750, nearly 23 per cent of the recruitment cost is spent on government fees,

    agency fees, passport fees, airfares and other related expenses, while the remaining 77 per cent

    goes to intermediaries such as recruitment agents, migrant brokers, subagents and other

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    facilitators. The study has pointed out that intermediary fees also contain kickbacks for the

    Gulf-based recruiting agencies.

    While this study has attempted to provide valuable insights into the recruitment of Banglade-

    shi migrants in the GCC countries, it could not shed light on some other aspects of recruitment

    such as political economy of recruitment at both ends. This study should be seen as an initial

    investigation of an understudied subject, and building on it can further the analysis of migrant

    recruitment in the Gulf.

    Acknowledgements

    The author wishes to thank International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Dhaka, for providing access tothe Bangladesh Household Remittance Survey data. Special thanks go to Rabab Fatima, Regional Represen-tative, IOM-Dhaka, Samiha Huda and Disha Sonata Faruque, also of IOM-Dhaka, who all provided supportand were a joy to work with. The author would like to thank two anonymous reviewers of the Canadian

    Journal of Development Studies for their insightful comments on the draft version of this article. Theauthor also wishes to thank Nasra Shah and Philippe Fargues for their comments at the presentation of

    this paper at the Gulf Research Meeting, University of Cambridge, 69 July 2011.

    Biographical note

    Md Mizanur Rahman is a Research Fellow at the Institute of South Asia Studies, National University ofSingapore. His research interests include labour migration, diaspora, migrant entrepreneurship andremittances. He is currently working on global South Asian diasporas and their engagements with SouthAsia. He has published in International Migration, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Asian Popu-lation Studies, Journal of International Migration and Integration and Population, Space and Place,among others.

    Notes1. Bangladesh is divided into major administrative regions called divisions and each division is further

    split into districts. In total, there are 7 divisions and 64 districts in Bangladesh.2. The Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training, Bangladesh (BMET) is responsible for record-

    keeping and granting permission to overseas jobseekers. The BMET posts vital migration statisticsonline at http://www.bmet.org.bd.

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