Md. Mizanur Rahman
National University of Singapore

Migration and Poverty in Bangladesh: Ironies and Paradoxes

INTRODUCTION
Migration has been an important demographic process in Bangladesh as rural pauperization and landlessness force people to leave rural areas in search of better opportunities (Baluja, 2003; Chaudhury, 1979; Afsar, 2000; Faraizi, 1993). The long queue of applicants for overseas employment and the proliferation of recruitment agencies in Bangladesh reflect the growing significance of labor migration and the apparent internationalization of labor markets. Labor migration is often associated with poverty. Traditionally, labor migrants are both pushed by the lack of opportunities in the home country and pulled by the hope of economic gain in the destination country.
Poverty is seen as a motivating factor for migration and labor migration is often seen as a cause of poverty. As a result, international labor migration is believed to be contributing to poverty reduction, because the remittances sent back by migrants are supposed to improve the economies of migrant families.

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