Culture and Development: The Trauma of the Trafficked Seeking Remittances

This chapter examines the plight of Bangladeshi labourers after experiencing labour trafficking during irregular migration via a perilous maritime route to Malaysia in 2015, most of them involved in the Andaman Sea crisis. Their journey and their experiences of trauma are examined at four stages of their journey; pre-commencement/commencement; being trafficked and sold as a batch; at the transfer point when extortion of their families at home occurs, and at the end of their journey as returnees to Bangladesh (the large majority never reaching their destination). The theoretical framework helps highlight the significance of culture on the trauma experienced by the returnees in the broad context of economic and social pressures. It also leverages the individual/collectivism model from cultural psychology, self-discrepancy and resiliency theory to explain how individuals respond to and deal with such trauma, with implications for government policy and NGO support (both pro-active and re-active responses).