As the COVID-19 pandemic emerged globally, migrant workers, both internationally and within Bangladesh, found themselves facing a new set of challenges and vulnerabilities. With limited access to income-generating activities, social services, healthcare systems, and social support networks, many have opted to return home. During May and June, IOM, supported by the European Union under the regional program REMAP, along with the NPM team based in Cox’s Bazar, completed data collection on the needs and vulnerabilities of international and internal Bangladeshi migrant returnees.

The following report focuses on the demographic and socio-economic profile of the returnees, their livelihoods and employment, their migration and return experiences and practices, and their economic and social challenges and aspirations. Snowball sampling was used from a returnee list provided by the Government of Bangladesh in order to determine a sample population for this study.

Due to mobility restrictions, data collection was phone-based. Returnees were categorized as either international, having returned from outside Bangladesh, or internal, having returned to their home district from another district in Bangladesh. Due to the sampling method, the survey is non-probabilistic, meaning that the sample is not necessarily representative of the returnee population of Bangladesh. Additionally, the number of female respondents was low, so the report does not necessarily represent the needs and vulnerabilities of female returnees.

The report highlights how the loss of remittances and current severe lack of employment opportunities contribute to significant drops in income, challenges related to debt repayment, and social and personal impairments. Notably, survey respondents are eager to re-migrate, often back to the country or district from which they returned