Building Resilience of Returning Migrants from the Andaman Sea through Economic Reintegration and Community Empowerment in Cox’sBazar

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UK and others Ambassadors talk with beneficiaries at Cox’s Bazar Sadar
IOM Higher Official made a speech on financial literacy course on Cox’s Bazar
Md. Saiful Islam Mazumder, ADC, Cox’sBazar presided the mobility tracing on Cox’s Bazar
National Program Manager, IOM & Director (SD) of YPSA talk with beneficiary in his yard at Rajarkol Cox’s Bazar.
A meeting with returnee on individual assistance at Cox’sBazar Sadar
a training on mobility tracing with DEMO and Government official

Project Period :  June 2016 to  June 2018

Background

The Andaman Sea Crisis of May-August 2015 highlighted how international labour mobility, smuggling and human trafficking intersect in Bangladesh. Migrants with different motivations and circumstances used the same migration pathways and infrastructure. Unable to find safe harbour, around 8,000 migrants were left adrift at sea and an estimated 1,050 died or went missing between 2014 and March 2015. Irregular maritime movement in the Bay of Bengal has reduced in recent months. However, with the end of the monsoons, many expect that migrants and refugees will again embark on perilous migration journeys in search of work overseas. Irregular Migration occurs across the border of Bangladesh and people suffer a lot from this migration.

Adequate protection strategies should take into account by our government so that we can save our people and our migration industry from any evil touch. However, to reduce the tendency of irregular migration also safe from smugglers and traffickers, we should train up aspirant migrants for skill development, job placement opportunity, small business support, improve economic condition of returned migrants, also provide an orientation on safe migration and strength the capacity of related stakeholders regarding migration.

YPSA feels that the initiative need to continue for improving the returnee migrants who become victim of Andaman Sea Crisis. So YPSA design the project to building resilience of Returning Migrants through Economic Reintegration and Community Empowerment. YPSA believes that if the community people become aware about the safe migration and opportunity and safety net will creates at local level than the irregular migration will be reduced radically

Project Goals/ Objective

Development Objective: Contribute to the durable reintegration of returning migrants and build the resilience of communities that are particularly vulnerable to irregular migration by sea.

Outcome 1: Improved self‐sufficiency of returnees

Output 1.1: Provision of individual assistance to selected returnees for their skills development, job placement and reintegration in the community.

Output 1.2: Provision of individual assistance to selected returnees for development of small business opportunities.

Outcome 2: Improved livelihood and economic conditions in 8 target communities

Output 2.1 Provision of 8 community infrastructure projects to improve the economic situation of returning migrants and livelihood conditions in the target communities.

Output 2.2 Community groups/CBOs have the knowledge and skills to manage and maintain economic infrastructure.

Outcome 3: Returned migrants, their families and potential migrants in target communities practice safe and informed migration

Output 3.1 Pre‐decision orientation for returning migrants, family members and target community members.

Output 3.2 Capacity of officers, local CBO staff and local youth volunteers to provide migration counseling increased.

Output 3.3 Migration trend data collected and available to potential migrants, government bodies and other actors.

Geographic Location

YPSA will implement the project in 3 Upazillas like Cox’s Bazar sadar, Ramu and Ukhia  Upazilla of Cox’s Bazar district. Since most of the returning migrants are living in those upazillas and those are very potential to migration so YPSA has selected these three Upazilla for the project.

Activities:

1 Profiling and selection of 50 returning migrants from Andaman Sea in Cox’s Bazar.

2 Needs assessment for identifying skills training and the interest area of Income Generating Activities

3 Provide skills training to 50 returning migrants from Andaman Sea

4 Provide Job placement support to 10 trained returning migrants from Andaman Sea

5 Facilitate to prepare individual reintegration plan

6 Provide reintegration assistance to returning migrants through referral to psycho-social counseling.

Sustainability

The project will contribute to develop skill of returnee migrants for ensuing job placement, self-employment and start up support by which their livelihood and economic conditions will be increased which will contribute to reintegrate the returnees into their family and community. Through psychosocial counseling and reintegration support to the returnees is a strong means to sustain the project. Through developing and strengthening partnership and networking with different organizations a referral mechanism of delivering services like training, counseling towards returnees will be established by which returnees will get services and will be able to change their life. Replication of the initiatives, as a model by other organization in other districts or cities, is prior factor of the sustainability of the project