DEDICATION:

To the Bangladeshi women and men who have gone overseas, giving of themselves to create a better life for others

In the end, each one of us is a migrant of sorts. It is only when the migrant stops being the other, and we embrace the reality of migration, taking on board all the joys and trepidations that they face, that we shall build the open society, that beckons us. It is as much about facing our own fears and prejudices. About letting go of our internal demons. About accepting that agency and ambition, so celebrated in the west, is a common attribute. It is about believing that this planet is for us all. For us and our children’s children, to be shared to the full.

That single hope, to change one’s destiny, is what ties all migrants together whether they be the Bangladeshis who work in the forests of Malaysia, who work as unskilled labour in the Middle East, or those that go to the promised lands of the US. Not all of them are poor. Many are skilled and well educated. Still, the possibility of changing one’s destiny is the single driving force that pushes people into precarious journeys all across the globe. They see it not merely as a means for economic freedom, but also as a means for social mobility.

TEXT: Shahidul Alam