Social Sciences
Volume 8, Issue 4, 2019

Bangladeshi migrants of Italy and their precarity (Article) (Open Access)

Roy N. , Verdun A.*
  • a Department of Economics, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2, Canada
  • b Department of Political Science, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2, Canada, Institute of Political Science, Leiden University, Leiden, NL 2333AK, Netherlands

Abstract

Over the past years much attention has been placed on the ordeal of migrants as they leave their home countries and seek refuge or better lives in others. Given the sudden surge of Bangladeshi migration to Italy in recent years, this article focuses on Bangladeshi migrants in Italy and examines the precarity that they face or have faced. Our analysis is based on observations gleaned from the existing literature and our own field study of 18 Bangladeshi migrants in two adjacent regions in Italy. We look at the precarity faced by Bangladeshi migrants (1) pre-migration in Bangladesh, (2) during migration from Bangladesh as they passed through different countries, and (3) in their current host country, Italy. Precarity can have different but often overlapping meanings, for example, "labor precarity", "life precarity", and "place/legal precarity", among others. We have used these different lenses of precarity to examine the experience of Bangladeshi migrants of Italy. The existing literature on Bangladeshi migrants does not use a precarity lens explicitly, nor does it consider the experience of the migrants in all three of the above stages of their migration together. We conclude that generally these Bangladeshi migrants face precarity in its various forms, in all stages of their journey, and in many spheres of life in their current host country. Recognizing the precarious nature of the existence of many of the Bangladeshi migrants is very important in any discussion of migrant issues that their host country, Italy, is facing. © 2019 by the authors.

Author Keywords

precarity Italy Bangladeshi migrants Well-being

Index Keywords

[No Keywords available]

Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85067093532&doi=10.3390%2fsocsci8040123&partnerID=40&md5=e963c3a118019fcfeeb02697660e3f17

DOI: 10.3390/socsci8040123
ISSN: 20760760
Original Language: English