Disgraceful return: Gulf migration and shifting national narratives amid COVID-19.

Several Asian countries that encourage international migration of labour call their emigrants 'national heroes and heroines' because of their contributions to foreign currency reserves and subsequent national development. However, the massive involuntary return amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the hea...

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Published in:Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies Vol. 49; no. 20; pp. 5238 - 5259
Main Authors: Rahman, Md Mizanur, Luna, Sabnam Sarmin, Raj, Pranav
Format: Article
Published: Taylor & Francis Ltd Dec2023
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Dec2023
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        10.1080/1369183X.2024.2268987
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        atl: Disgraceful return: Gulf migration and shifting national narratives amid COVID-19.
      aug:
        au:
          Rahman, Md Mizanur
          Luna, Sabnam Sarmin
          Raj, Pranav
        affil:
          Gulf Studies Program and Center, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar
          Department of Geography and Environment, Jagannath University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
          MIESPPU Institute of Higher Education, Doha, Qatar
      su:
        COVID-19 pandemic
        Emigration & immigration
        Health risk assessment
        Bangladesh
        Gulf Region (Tex.)
      sug:
        subj:
          Bangladesh
          Gulf Region (Tex.)
          COVID-19 pandemic
          Emigration & immigration
          Health risk assessment
      keyword:
        Bangladeshi migrants
        Gulf region
        Involuntary return migration
      ab: Several Asian countries that encourage international migration of labour call their emigrants 'national heroes and heroines' because of their contributions to foreign currency reserves and subsequent national development. However, the massive involuntary return amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the health risk associated with returning from virus-affected regions, such as the Gulf states, call the development narratives of migrants and migrant remittances into question. This study examines the experiences of Gulf return migrants in Bangladesh, focusing on their arrivals at the airport, their travels home, their receptions at the origin communities, their financial hardship upon return and the shifting development narratives in the origin country. The paper draws on primary data, collected through interviews of Gulf returnees in Bangladesh between 2020 and 2021. This study finds that the image of migrants as 'national heroes' is not only challenged during the pandemic but replaced almost overnight by a new one, such as 'COVID-19 super-spreaders'. This research reports that migrants confront with unpleasant circumstances during their return migration process that render their return to their country of origin disgraceful. The paper stresses developing policy measures to protect involuntary returnees from victimisation and disgraceful circumstances.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
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    language: English
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      custom: Copyright of Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
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