The Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) on Wednesday unveiled its annual research report titled “Dynamics of International Labour Migration 2025: Achievements and Challenges” at a press conference held at the National Press Club.
The report presents an overall picture of Bangladesh’s international labour migration in 2025, highlighting key trends, major developments, the role of service-providing institutions, legal and policy changes, migrant protection in light of international law, and a set of policy recommendations.
Eminent photographer and writer Shahidul Alam attended the event as a guest, while the main findings of the report were presented by Tasneem Siddiqui, Acting Executive Director of RMMRU.
Speaking at the press conference, Shahidul Alam said migrants must be viewed as human beings, not merely as numbers. “The government earns revenue from migrants, yet there are hardly any effective steps to make their lives easier. Still, we speak of building a discrimination-free country,” he said.
He also criticised the continued reliance on postal ballots for migrant voting, saying it does not align with the realities of the digital age.
Presenting the report, Tasneem Siddiqui said overseas labour migration from Bangladesh increased by nearly 12 percent in 2025 compared to 2024. A total of 62,317 women workers migrated abroad in 2025, accounting for about 5.5 percent of total migrants. However, compared to 2022, women’s migration declined by around 40.9 percent.
She noted that nearly 90 percent of Bangladeshi migrant workers went to just five destination countries, with 67 percent—around 754,369 workers—migrating to Saudi Arabia alone.
The report highlighted a significant rise in remittance inflows, which stood at USD 32.82 billion in 2025.
It also noted that for the first time, arrangements were made in 2025 to allow Bangladeshi migrants to vote while residing abroad. As of December 31, 2025, a total of 1,118,344 migrants had registered for postal voting.
However, the report expressed concern over reduced budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, which dropped to Tk 855 crore in the current fiscal year from Tk 1,140 crore in the previous year, despite recommendations in the Economic White Paper to increase migration-sector allocation from 0.08 percent to 1 percent of the national budget.
Irregular migration remains a major risk area, the report said, noting that between January 1 and October 3, 2025, 15,476 Bangladeshi migrants reached the Italian coast via sea routes—the highest among all nationalities arriving in Italy and nearly double the figure of the previous year.
Siddiqui stressed the need for ensuring good governance in the migration sector through structural reforms of the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training and the ministry, controlling irregularities and excessive costs, and strengthening oversight of recruiting agencies. She also called for greater investment in women migrants’ protection and skills development.
She further emphasised the importance of expanding facilities, trainers and manpower, along with stronger monitoring, to implement the mandatory Takamol skills test in Saudi Arabia effectively.
The report put forward several recommendations, including transforming BMET into a multi-directorate department, introducing a dedicated cadre service for the expatriates’ welfare ministry, and ensuring that the Wage Earners’ Welfare Board fund is used solely for direct migrant services.
Other recommendations include restoring the practice of appointing experienced bankers as chairpersons of the expatriates’ welfare bank, expanding its network, suspending recruiting agency licences held by members of parliament to avoid conflicts of interest, and allocating at least 1 percent of the national budget—or 5 percent of annual remittance earnings—to the migration sector.
To strengthen administrative reforms, the report suggested including migrant data in the national census, imposing fivefold fines on those charging excessive migration costs, investing in women workers’ skills and need-based shelters abroad, introducing nursing courses at all universities, fully digitising and tracking the Takamol testing process, fixing fees in local currency, and enhancing the quality and international recognition of Technical Training Centre (TTC) programmes.
Others present at the press conference included RMMRU Programme Director Marina Sultana, Project Manager Rabeya Nasrin, Senior IT and Communication Officer Parvez Alam, Legal Officer Mahmudul Hasan, and Dhaka University teacher Mohammad Rashed Alam.
