Previous research shows as much as a third of migration attempts in Bangladesh are ending in failure, with large financial losses for the households concerned. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated these trends, with an estimated two million migrant workers expected to return amid the recession. The rehabilitation and reintegration into the economy of this influx of return migrants is thus becoming a pressing concern for the country.
This study will provide a qualitative assessment of the needs of migrant workers involuntarily repatriated due to the pandemic, as well as the likelihood of unsafe re-migration in this population. A special focus of the qualitative study will be on female returnees, who face additional sociocultural obstacles to reintegration.