Children of expatriate parents

There is no study or data from which we could make an idea about the feelings of the children of expatriate Bangladeshis toward their mother country. I could look at the state of my own family and try to make a value judgment. The intention here, from my own side, is to look at this dispassionately and make some observations simply because I do love this country and feel that we need the help of expert manpower and also investment, that other countries like India seem to count for granted. The expatriate communities of Indian origin keeps a visceral contact with their mother country and do so culturally as well as economically with inward FDI (foreign direct investment) coming from people who hold citizenship of other countries. This I know from personal experience and via the print media and television.

Every person has a right to go to another country in search of better education and economic prospect. This has been done so from centuries and in all continents of the world. A dilemma arises when the migrant, being the product of so many generations suddenly decides to sever all meaningful contact with the mother country. The money spent on him by the mother country becomes a failed investment, even more than that, the natural genealogy is broken depriving the mother nation of the chance to profit from the dreams planted so many generations back. The loss is cumulative as the same people then do not give their children enough option to learn about their homeland, so that they could retain an interest or even choose to make a journey back .If this journey back does not materialise, the mother country is loosing revenue and other contributions of the subjective and objective kind.

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The expatriate Bangladeshi community does show a proclivity to retain contact with their country. Recently, there has been some investment in the hotel and hospitality business by returning Bangladeshis. But the great many children of skilled doctors, engineers and business graduates remain aloof from the interest of the country. And the chances of these people being lost to another country are high. A survey of my own family shows a definite tilt toward staying in the West. The children of my six sisters, who have different family names then my own have a stronger penchant for the West than the children of my brothers. I do fear that. As migration of people bearing my family name increases so would the rate of people gone missing.

The talented would go to another country to try and make their talent flourish. The terrible state of our traffic and law and order forces people to stay away. The fact remains that the lure of Western culture is changing people in all parts of the world. In this scenario, one cannot expect those who are already in the West to leave everything behind and come back! But my own desire is to have at least a minimum percentage of reverse migration, in par in percentage point with India at least. That would show that we care and that development of Bangladesh will take place just a little faster.

Ershad Khandker is a freelance contributor.