bangladeshis in the middle east
kiwi zane small shares his experiences with racism as an expatriate living in the middle east .
the middle east policy council is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to contribute to american understanding of the political, economic and cultural issues that affect u. s. interests in the middle east .
about 40 lakh bangladeshis are working in different countries in the middle east, including saudi arabia, the uae, qatar, oman, bahrain, iraq and libya .
racial discrimination exists in every country, but in the middle east, it' s unique, writes zane small .
after living and travelling around the middle east for over a year now, i' ve slowly become accustom to the active social trends. racial discrimination exists in every country, but in the middle east, it' s unique .
societies for the first time since the middle ages and are reinforcing the pluralist texture in others .
estimates put the number of bangladeshis working in the gulf state at more than 150, 000 .
mustafa malik, “islam in europe: quest for a paradigm, ” middle east policy, vol. viii, no. 2, june 2001, p. 103 .
dale f. eickelman, “the coming transformation of the muslim world, ” middle east review of international affairs, vol. 3, no. 3, september 1990 .
in most countries around the world, white people seem to be treated with the most respect. in the middle east, native arabs from the gcc region are treated with great respect, and then white people are sort of next in line. meanwhile indians, pakistanis, bangladeshis and filipinos, who, in the uae for example, together make up 52. 48 per cent of the total population, are noticeably treated as lesser individuals .
oussama cherribi, “the growing islamization of europe, ” modernizing islam: religion in the public sphere in europe and the middle east, eds. john l. esposito and francois burgat (new brunswick, nj: rutgers university press, 2003), p. 195 .
the officially recorded flow of people from (back then) east pakistan to international destinations was, however, still quite small. the increasing outward orientation of bangladeshis after national independence in 1971 as well as the 1973 oil boom and thus an increasing need for cheap labor in the middle east then led to a rapid growth of international labor migration from bangladesh (see figure 1). in 1976, only 6, 000 bangladeshis left to work abroad. since then, the number of both temporary expatriate workers and permanent out - migrants has increased dramatically. between 1990 and 1995, 1. 2 million bangladeshis left the country to live and work abroad. out - migration increased to almost three million between 2005 and 2010. in the year 2008 alone, 875, 000 migrant workers were recruited from bangladesh
the author’s grandparents sitting with some of their children, including his mother age 9, second from right, in the courtyard of their east pakistan home in the early 1950s .
the liberation war of bangladesh is indeed the most momentous event for the people who were once east bengalis, then east pakistanis and now bangladeshis: it conferred on us the pride of standing as an equal among the nations of the world. other subnational groups in both india and pakistan also chafed at the gross inequities committed by an imposing federated state. yet only in bangladesh did rebellion against such injustice and the idea of a distinct cultural identity — in this case, bengali and secular — lead to a new nation .
the home built in east pakistan by the author’s grandparents, when it was just one - story, c. 1950. the same backdrop, in what is today called bangladesh, is packed with apartment buildings .
economic, social and cultural pursuits is also strengthening pluralist trends. pluralism will advance further in europe because of the recent incorporation of orthodox slavic and other east european peoples into the eu and in the united states from
i was born in bangladesh. studied in the usa. lived in the usa for 20 ...
more than 36, 000 people have returned from libya alone in recent weeks. an estimated 70, 000 - 80, 000 bangladeshis were working there before the current crisis .
according to the international organisation for migration (iom), more than 36, 500 bangladeshis have been repatriated from libya since the uprising against muammar gaddafi began .
the government' s decision to join saudi arabia - led islamic military coalition will not lead to islamic state targeting bangladeshi expats in the middle eastern countries, said the expatriates' welfare and overseas employment minister yesterday .
rabab fatima, head of the iom regional office in dhaka, said :
many of the bangladeshis who returned have unpaid wages in libya. some still have debts at home incurred during their passage to libya. so there is a sense of uncertainty in them about the future .
in contrast, bangladeshis’ response to partition can seem to verge on indifference. for us, aug. 15, the day of india’s independence in 1947, represents first and foremost the brutal murder many years later, in 1975, of our own founding father, sheikh mujibur rahman. our seminal historical event is the liberation war of 1971, during which up to three million bangladeshis may have been killed by the pakistani army and its local collaborators as they tried to crush the movement for independence .
but partition had paved the way. so while the importance of 1971 cannot be overstressed for bangladeshis, to think that partition has only been subsumed here by a bigger and more recent event also misses the point .
tens of thousands of bangladeshi migrant workers are returning home from strife - torn middle eastern countries, threatening social and economic turmoil in their homeland which relies heavily on expatriates for a large part of its national income .
dhaka, bangladesh — in 1948, a year after the partition of india, my maternal grandparents moved from calcutta to dhaka, crossing from west bengal in india to east bengal, or east pakistan — now bangladesh. there, they built a tin - shed house in the new neighborhood of dhanmondi, known before only for its paddy fields (dhan). at the time, the area was so desolate that every night my grandfather would fire his double - barreled shotgun to ward off foxes and thieves .
seven decades on, partition may be a bigger psychic presence for indians and pakistanis than it was in years closer to the event. for bangladeshis, who tend to gloss over its brutality as a pathology of the moment, it is but an echo of the distant past .
yet to write off the difference simply as a function of a majoritarian advantage is to miss a subtler point about who made the move and why. many hindus of east bengal had good reason to fear for their safety after horrific riots and rapes against them there in the late 1940s. but many of the muslims of west bengal, especially the more privileged ones, who crossed into east pakistan were often the more ambitious members of their families and came into the new country to seek new fortunes .
attitudes between different social grades are broadly similar to current pakistani migrants but middle - class voters (abc1) are more likely than working class voters (c2de) to feel positive about the progress of integration for their children .
the contrast in the fortunes of my ancestors who moved to dhaka versus those who stayed back in calcutta is telling. my grandparents’ children in bangladesh have gone on to hold high offices at home and even internationally. the ones who entered business have enjoyed tremendous success. their cousins in calcutta, who are a minority there today, enjoy prosperous middle - class lives, mainly running small businesses. no one approaches the exalted heights reached by their relatives in the new country, or local hindus with comparable job qualifications .
but if they felt secure enough even then, why leave a year after partition? the answer is quite simple: to them, east pakistan was not a land of exile, but a land of opportunity .
bangladesh' s history is a history of migration. people have been mobile in the bengal delta region for centuries. patterns of contemporary labor migration go back to colonial times. every year, around 500. 000 bangladeshis leave the country to work abroad. bangladesh' s economy depends on the emigrants' remittances .
you see, my grandparents, two muslims living in hindu - majority west bengal, did not move to east bengal out of fear. my grandmother came from a large and prosperous clan in a town adjacent to calcutta. she recalled that during religious riots in 1946, men in her neighborhood guarded all its entrances, wielding swords. as muslims who held a dominant position in their muslim - majority corner of town, my grandparents didn’t face the terrible violence of the time .
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“pakis” is a pejorative term for pakistanis, who made up nearly a third of the muslim population in britain. but because they were – and remain – in the vanguard of the muslim anti - racist struggle, their national label was used to identify muslim activists from everywhere. you seldom heard pakistanis, bangladeshis or turks referred to as “muslims. ” they all were “pakis. ”
nine million foreigners work in the kingdom, many of them from south asia, according to the last official figures released in 2015 .
i' m expatriate through and through. born in south asia, raised in ...
muhammad khalid masud narrated the incident to the author in london on september 9, 1995 .
in the united states in 1980, four out of 10 marriages of americans of european ancestry occurred across ethnic or religious boundaries .
and one in detroit showed that only 4 percent of muslims in that city were married to non - muslims .
he said the role of bangladesh in the coalition would be understood better after talks with saudi arabia .
the bangladeshi diaspora community includes people who have migrated to a foreign country as well as their children who have been born either in bangladesh or in the host country. the size of the diaspora population is thus much bigger than the immigrant population of the respective country. for example, 154, 000 immigrants from bangladesh lived in the united kingdom in 2000, while the uk’s national census in 2001 recorded 283, 000 british citizens of bangladeshi origin. many bangladeshi diaspora members are well established in their host countries. many have started off as workers in factories, and now run their own restaurants, corner shops and other businesses. third or even fourth generation bangladeshi diaspora members in the uk are represented in the mainstream economy and the political system of the british government. similar observations are also reported for the usa
eleven migrant workers died of asphyxiation in saudi arabia on wednesday in a fire that engulfed the windowless house they shared, saudi authorities said .
. in 2014, 426, 000 people migrated to work in another country – most often on temporary labor contracts .
catholic and jewish assimilation into host societies occurred in two stages. the first stage, as noted, consisted in their shedding ethnic identities and evolving as religious communities. in the second stage, which for many jews is still in progress, they regrouped again into secular national mainstreams .
firefighters put out a blaze in an old house lacking windows for ventilation. eleven people died of asphyxiation, and six others were injured
in the southern province of najran, the civil defence said in a tweet .
in the united states a large new wave of european immigration began in the early 1870s and stopped by the 1920s. by then, the 1870s immigrants had mostly retired and their grandchildren had come of age. sociologist
there’s also a similar ‘off - spring effect’ in public attitudes to the integration of all groups referenced in the study, where the younger generation is viewed as integrating significantly better than their parents. in this case, overall attitudes to the pakistanis show the biggest shift from negative to positive impressions of integration between the generations .
when i was growing up, such stories struck me as nothing more than proof that my grandfather was eccentric and a visionary. but how we fashion our family history also reflects our collective memory. and when years later i began to examine, for a research project in comparative literature, why bangladeshis relate to partition differently than do indians and pakistanis, i found clues to an answer right in my family lore .
is embedded in islamic pluralism. and it would impede the social integration necessary for social
by far the biggest differentiator in attitudes to pakistani integration, however, is contact .
the muslim birthrate in europe is three times higher than the european average, and muslim immigration continues. a brookings institution researcher says the eu
umma solidarity can be seen in action when a picnic is arranged by my mosque in laurel, maryland; when a campaign is organized by the german milli gorus organization to introduce islamic courses in german public schools; or when protests erupt against an attack on muslims or islam, as in march 2003, in cairo, amman, islamabad, dhaka, kuala lumpur and jakarta against the u. s. - led war in iraq .
k. anis ahmed is a writer based in bangladesh and publisher of the dhaka tribune .
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– plays a part in what is happening, but it’s far from the whole story .
in fact “black pride” has replaced the african american aspiration for assimilation with white america. one writer says the 1995 million
the government did not act wisely in making such an important decision without any discussion at any level, not even in parliament, said cpb president mujahidul islam selim and general secretary syed abu zafar ahmed yesterday in a statement .
he was briefing the media at probashi kalyan bhaban in the capital' s iskaton on the ministry' s programmes on international migrants day today .
perhaps most important is the strength of the pakistani economic story in these figures, which could offer some headlights to the wcop and other community leaders .
in the united states, religion never really left the public square and is now being patronized indirectly by the bush administration through its “faith - based” programs. in france, where secularism has become “an alternative faith, ”
with 7 million people across 140 countries, pakistan has a large diaspora. over 1 million of these live in the united kingdom, making it the second largest community of overseas pakistanis in the world after saudi arabia .
among other things, the fragmentation of their political units by northern european invaders in earlier centuries .
in other words, british concerns towards the cultural separation of pakistanis is not wholesale across the community, and a large section of the public sees the positive integrating effect of longer settlement on the younger generations .
the ottomans, whose conquest of the byzantine balkans and asia minor began in the 1290s, combined islamic pluralist concepts with the byzantine pluralist tradition. rights of religious minorities were written into byzantine
the umma spirit, too, may appear in a momentary encounter between muslims who are perfect strangers .
in the united states, you still hear some people describe themselves as irish americans or russian jews .
after the second world war, the united kingdom faced labor shortages and therefore began to attract labor migrants of the commonwealth states. young men from bangladesh, in particular from the sylhet region, thus left for the uk, mostly settled in london, and contributed to meeting the increasing demand for cheap labor. this initiated chain migration of further workers and family members to the uk in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and led to close transnational connections between bangladesh and the uk .
an anonymous female indian expat, whose father has been working in dubai for the past 27 years, replies to the question, first mentioning the good side of life for her family in dubai, which includes: designated shopping areas, excellent eateries, tax - free salary, and the opportunity to live in a nice centralized ac apartment .
the embassy called the police, who managed to restore order and arrested some of the workers. the others fled .
that' s the positives. the negatives on the other hand are disheartening. she points out that indian' s are
treated like s... in dubai .
there are two classes of indians in dubai: the blue - collar indians and the white - collar indians .
the national economy and migrants’ families are highly dependent on the regular financial transfers by migrants, and they are thus vulnerable to ruptures of the money flows. ninety percent of the money that is being sent to bangladesh by its migrants and the diaspora comes from ten countries, 58 percent from the gulf states alone (see table 3). economic crises and rising unemployment in the destination countries; unsuccessful negotiations of the sending government with migrant - receiving nations about labor recruitment, payment levels and labor standards; political changes that limit the access of bangladeshi migrants to overseas labor markets, such as the restriction of male labor migrants in the united arab emirates (in 2012); or political crises, such as the civil war and economic breakdown in libya, where tens of thousands of bangladeshis had worked before 2011 – all of these factors can lead to an abrupt reduction of temporary labor migrants in a country and thereby impact the overall flows of remittances. decreasing remittances can also be partly explained by the changing role that remittances play for diaspora communities. on the one hand, upward social mobility of migrants in the host society connected to access to higher paid jobs can increase the overall volume of remittances. on the other hand, as the case of the uk indicates, better social and economic integration of the second and third generation of people with bangladeshi origin may lead to a stronger social identification with the host country, to the loosening of transnational ties and a decreasing willingness to send money to bangladesh .
unlike earlier muslim movements led by towering statesmen and elaborate organizations for political independence or religious reforms, the current ferment is fueled mainly by individuals and local groups for self - improvement as much as social renewal. during my frequent trips through the muslim world, i ran into many young muslims with secular education who were studying the quran and prophetic traditions on their own. very few did so in the 1960s, when i was attending college in what was then east pakistan (now bangladesh). this past july, i met members of a “muslim club” in dhaka who were raising funds to help put poor children through school. in faisalabad, pakistan, altaf hussein and his friends are campaigning for the enrollment of muslim girls in school, ignoring orthodox islamic scholars’ ruling against female education. in bursa, turkey, my former translator mehmet ertan is working with a group of volunteers who supply islamic literature to crimean muslims, while looking after chechen refugees .
consulate and a british bank in istanbul, killing 27 people. bush’s state visit had been scheduled months earlier to celebrate what had been expected, if a bit presumptuously, to be an unmixed victory in the anglo - u. s. war in iraq. the bombings were the turks’ revenge against the invasion of that muslim country, said a statement issued on the bombers’ behalf .
second, in western societies, race remains an enduring barrier to non - white groups’ assimilation into the white mainstream. racial tensions have in fact increased in post - cold war europe. even in the united states, civil - rights laws and citizen activism for a half - century have failed to draw african americans or native americans into the white mainstream, even though most of these minorities share its faiths .
of the 15 million people who crossed the borders of bengal and punjab, in western india, at the time of partition, only 700, 000 moved to east bengal, most of them from west bengal, with smaller numbers from bihar and uttar pradesh. bengali muslims suffered less violence than other groups. for many of them the move was voluntary, indeed opportunistic. and their hope of a better future, rather than the mere search for a safe haven, has given rise to a different kind of memory about that period: one less laden with grief and often taut with the excitement of new possibilities .
hello, im shakera. currently living in kuala lumpur with my ...
muslim youths’ reformist orientation. in traditional muslim societies, for example, borrowing and lending money on interest is judged unislamic. how does a muslim operate in a
in an article for the guardian, mawuna remarque koutonin, social activist for africa renaissance, highlights the prejudiced use of
hierarchical words
created for the purpose of placing white people in an esteemed category of their own when relocating to a foreign country .
during the flight, piscatori argued that the umma concept is only a muslim aspiration. in the real world, he said, muslims have all along been fighting and killing one
the young men and women who have been forced to return will find their financial and social capital severely depleted. in a country where remittance plays such a huge role, this also means less cash in the local economy .
mr. malik, a washington journalist, is researching the evolution of muslim communities in north america and western europe .
i am working as test automation lead engineer in iconnect360 sdn bhd... .
morocco, to participate in a conference on islam. in london he met james piscatori, an american scholar on islam (now teaching at oxford university), who had also been invited to the conference, and from there the two traveled
the argument indicates a sea change in british perception of muslims. in the early 1970s, when i lived in britain, muslim immigrants from south asia and elsewhere had frequent run - ins with anti - immigrant gangs. and right - wing activists, led by enoch powell, a jingoistic member of parliament, would demand that the “pakis” be shipped “back home. ”
said ibn ahmed, a judge in the then muslim city of toledo, spain, quoted in bernard lewis, the muslim discovery of europe (new york: w. w. norton & co. , 1982), p. 68 .
the son of a palestinian muslim immigrant to the united states, for example, would marry the daughter of a lebanese or kuwaiti muslim, but very rarely the daughter of a palestinian christian. in britain, according to sociologist muhammad
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inherent hostility to muslims. the bush administration is using the patriot act to harass them. like the jacques
second, in their industrial workplaces technology helped them routinely rationalize the outcome of human actions, diminishing their reliance on supernatural intervention in life. once secularized, they would have fewer qualms about marrying and assimilating into other religious
government curbs on the use of religious symbols in schools are stimulating religious fervor among muslims, catholics and jews. it all bolsters
the umma was born in the arabian town of yathrib in the 620s as an interfaith defense alliance among muslims, christians and jews to protect that town against invaders from mecca. the prophet muhammad and his followers had migrated to yathrib, renamed medina, to avoid persecution in their native town of mecca. eventually the umma evolved as a muslim community comprising a variety of meccan and medinese tribal elements and remained ethnically pluralist. since 656, when a bloody rebellion broke out against the third islamic caliph, uthman, the umma has
versus the rest” or daniel lerner’s “mecca or mechanization, ” are of little use in understanding this transformation. they obscure or even distort the immense spiritual and intellectual ferment that is taking place today among the
but the same numbers also highlight a bigger challenge, which is that beyond the terms of personal interaction, the pakistani community has a long way to go in fostering a broader perception of successful integration .
societies concede minorities a range of opportunities to foster their cultures while discriminating against them in other ways. france and germany are among the countries where minorities suffer relatively greater legal and social disabilities. even in these countries there is little overt pressure for assimilation. in general, western societies are on an irreversible course of pluralization, and the most obvious force behind it is the growth of non - western minorities, especially the muslims, the fastest growing of all .
a 1990 study showed only 0. 1 percent of non - hispanic whites in the united states were married to blacks. neither were blacks much more interested in racial mixing: only 2 percent of them had nonblack spouses .
dr. bishawjit mallick is research associate at the institute of regional science at the karlsruhe institute of technology, germany. in his dissertation, he analyzed social responses to climate risks in bangladesh' s coastal areas. currently, his research focuses on risk - oriented spatial planning and climate - induced migration processes in bangladesh. email: bishawjit. mallick @ urltoken
. people of bangladeshi origin are also active in the media, for example, in the uk, the usa, canada, germany, and in malaysia, where bangladeshi newspapers are published on a regular basis. bangladeshi national festivals are arranged by the diaspora community as a part of cultural exchange in the host countries. such cultural festivals, the bangla language, bengali food and also muslim religious practices, for instance fastening during ramadan, are crucial for re - producing bengali identities. it is also important to note that many bangladeshi immigrants have not cut their ties to family members
back home
in bangladesh. frequent communication with family and friends, regular visits to bangladesh, the transfer of financial resources, and the maintenance of international social networks and kinship relations has led to the emergence of
transnational social fields
, which shape the everyday life of both the diaspora communities
abroad
and the family members
back home
. in the past four decades, international labor migration and transnational ties have contributed significantly to transformations inside bangladesh
mr islam told the bbc bengali service that the motive for the attack was linked to wages not being paid .
dr ahsan mansur, executive director of the policy research institute, a dhaka - based thinktank, said :
remittance is six times the official development assistance and 11 times the foreign direct investment in bangladesh .
saw “islam... transcend [ ing ] the present ethnic diversity” in his country and emerging as a faith - based community .
along helped social and religious causes, but the proliferation of individual interest in islamic activism, which often promotes the renewal of traditional islamic norms, represents a massive qualitative shift in muslim thinking. peter mandaville asserts that muslims are “taking islam into their own hands. ”
e. j. dionne jr. , “in france, scarves and secularism, ” the washington post, december 23, 2003 .
interestingly, they are also seen as less threatening in general and less corrupt than eastern europeans .
but if we see them also intermarrying in large numbers so as to blur their ethnic and religious identities, we would say they have also blended structurally. in other words, they have assimilated .
islamic beliefs, practice, festivals and other symbols enable the muslim immigrant to revisit his old self and environment in a most intimate sense .
the rioters also slightly injured two bangladeshi civilians who were visiting the embassy, ambassador nazrul islam khan told the bbc .
– with a judeo - christian social milieu. ernest gellner obviously had the western concept of secularism in mind when he wrote: “islam is unique among world religions in being, so far, clearly incompatible with the widely held secularization thesis, which maintains that the social and psychic hold of religion diminishes with industrialism. ”
this community is hardly new; people from the region have been settling in the british isles for 400 years, and long before pakistan was founded – as it happens by a migrant to london, muhammad ali jinnah, who first trained as a barrister at lincoln’s inn before leading the new state to independence in 1947 .
i m frm bangladesh. i m staying in malaysia. i want to tranfar to ...
more than 700 bangladeshi workers have stormed their country' s embassy in kuwait, causing damage inside .
comparisons with other minorities examined in the same study demonstrate that britons tend to rank pakistanis lower down the integration hierarchy than other groups such as eastern europeans or those of african background .
in the last half century, it has also become many things: the second largest ethnic minority in the united kingdom; a rich contributor to the cultural, political and entrepreneurial life of the country; and a source of significant national insecurity, as some of the most serious terrorist threats to britain still emanate from pakistan and afghanistan. the diaspora is moreover an important currency of engagement and ‘soft power’ between britain and pakistan itself, whose importance to uk foreign policy could hardly be overstated, from trade and afghan reconstruction to nuclear proliferation, radical islam and great power rivalry in asia .
some argue that the enormity of that later war suborned the memory of the earlier split. this may be true, but it is not the entire story .
the bbc' s gulf correspondent julia wheeler says that the workers were able to get inside the building and damage property .
good can be found in every culture and religion, with those willing to alter trends of the past to make things better for the emerging generation. basic respect for everyone, regardless of their gender, race, religion or sexuality, is the change i wish to see in this world. this brings me to the issue of' expats' and' refugees' .
i don' t want to come across as hateful towards privileged whites or arabs, or the uae for that matter, because that would be contradictory. my best friend here in dubai is from a privileged emirati family, one of the friendliest and welcoming families i have ever met. the uae is also a very brave country, lighting up the burj khalifa in the colours of the belgian flag to pledge its support, unlike any other arab state .
few places epitomise the devastating effect as well as bashail, a town of 3, 500 people in barisal district in southern bangladesh. twelve of its young men have returned from north africa since march, most with harrowing tales of hunger and physical deprivation .
in fact, the claim of “european exceptionalism” is largely a colonialist concept. few europeans thought of themselves as exceptional until they began ruling over other peoples by dint of superior military machines and organization. in attaining their knowledge base and military prowess, says hugh
( gcc) are the most important destinations for bangladeshi laborers. from 1980 to 2010, the number of migrants who annually left for work in the gulf states increased tenfold from 25, 000 to more than 250, 000 per year
muslim ethnocultural patches are bound to look different from the rest of the umma quilt .
arshadul islam, an official in the expatriates' welfare and overseas employment ministry, said each returnee would be given a cash grant of 50, 000 taka (£414). but he said :
ultimately, the solution is to find employment for them. they are in a bad situation .
there is absolutely no distinction in the way they are treated ,
she writes .
when i fly to dubai, at the airport i am treated just the way the indian manual labourers are... like cattle .
she recounts being pushed and shoved to make way for whites and arabs at the airport .
the event is the brainchild of arif anis malik and his colleagues at the world congress of overseas pakistanis (wcop), a dynamic umbrella organisation that was recently established to help pakistani diasporas around the world with improving relations, increasing participation and braving realities in their lands of adoption .
bangladeshi labour migrants arrive at the airport in bangladesh' s capital dhaka carrying presents after working abroad for extended periods of time. (© benjamin etzold )
faruk sikder sells fruit from a cart in dhaka, bangladesh, after being forced to flee libya. photograph: syed zain al - mahmood for the guardian
i came from bangladesh. i am here for as a student. i am study in bsc ...
a survey in denmark found that only 5 percent of muslim youths would be willing to marry non - muslims .
despite his traumatic experience in libya, sikder hopes to return when the war has finished .
i hope the government will think of sending us back after the fighting stops ,
he said .
i still have a contract there .
in any case, muslims are stopping at the second stage of cultural transmutation. instead of assimilating, they are “integrating” into host societies. before looking into the factors that militate against muslim assimilation, a word about assimilation and integration. assimilation means the cultural and structural merger of ethnic or religious categories. in the united states, for example, when we see reformed jews and protestants working, socializing ,
in most societies muslims have taken rather wide liberty to adapt their faith to their environment. arab muslims hold on to pre - islamic tribal values and structure, despite islam’s revolutionary doctrine of social equality. in iran, muslims have cultivated the shii sect of islam. shii
reason the children of catholic and jewish immigrants assimilated into western national mainstreams was the absence of a cultural wellspring to forestall the erosion of their distinctive cultural life. in the midnineteenth century, when irish catholics migrated to new england, they were cut off from their native land and cultural life almost permanently. the only cultural liaison they could have with ireland was through occasional letters from relatives and perhaps a visit or two with them in their entire lives .
observe different holidays, celebrate different festivals and, more important, have a strong disinclination toward marrying non - jews. in that case, sephardic jews are mixing with protestants culturally but not blending with them structurally. the two groups have integrated but did not assimilate. pluralism characterizes the relationships between groups that are integrated well without assimilating. in this example, the sephardic jews have a pluralistic relationship with the protestants .
according to the national population and housing census, 2. 8 million bangladeshi household members were living abroad in 2011. 95 percent of them were men. the fact that these migrants are still considered
household members
and not
emigrants
indicates the temporary nature of these labor movements. the survey shows that more than 500, 000 migrant workers had returned home between 2006 and 2011, a time period in which 3. 5 million had left the nation
muslim leaders in britain condemned his comment while some britons defended him. clare short, who had resigned from prime minister
nearly one billion muslims, reducing it in most cases to a fanatical rejection of everything modern, liberal or progressive .
( lahore, pakistan: islamic publications, 1967), p. 13; abu husayn al - basri quoted in
personal contact is also a key differentiator in perceptions of integration. those who know members of the community in their own lives are likely to have a positive view of integration but strong majorities with no personal link see pakistanis as less well integrated than other minorities that have settled more recently, suggesting that a deeper history of settlement and participation has yet to translate into comparative reputational advantage in key regards .
when masud emerged from the customs gate, he complained to the waiting piscatori that the airport people had given him “a hard time. ”
then there is the umma factor and the communications revolution, which also are helping shore up the western islamic space against assimilationist pressure. one
in the same survey, we asked several filter questions about whether respondents knew people from a pakistani background among their friends and family, work colleagues or other acquaintances .
significant, too, was another assumption reflected in the brouhaha over the istanbul bombing. neither macshane nor any other briton demanded that any british muslims be sent “back home. ” britons accept muslims as part of their
notwithstanding, the issue has doubtless been amplified in recent years by the familiar effect of hard times, where blame is pointed towards migrants and minorities as an economic threat to jobs, housing and government tax receipts .
according to un data, more than 7. 8 million people of bangladeshi origin were living in 89 countries of the world in the year 2013. the main host countries are india (3. 2 million bangladeshi migrants), saudi arabia (1. 3 million), the united arab emirates (1. 1 million), malaysia (350, 000), kuwait (279, 000), and the united kingdom (240, 000) (see table 2) .
two years later, he built the first brick and concrete house in the area, which soon enough filled up with one - and two - story bungalows, each with its own lawn. his house looked no different from the others, but it harbored a surprising secret: he had built it with a foundation that could support seven stories. as far back as 1950, he had told my grandmother, “a day will come when you won’t be able to see anything but people in this city. ” and indeed, while at some point other lovely houses in the neighborhood had to be torn down in order to be built back up taller, his children just added new floors .
which proclaimed an exclusive african american social agenda, “was the symbolic end of [ the ] age” of the assimilationist campaign marked by the 1963 march to washington led by martin luther king, jr .
bangladesh ranks seventh in the list of the world’s top remittance - receiving nations. the remittances bangladeshi migrants and diaspora members send home to their relatives contribute significantly to household incomes and to bangladesh' s gross domestic product (gdp). according to the bangladeshi government, remittances amounted to us $ 13. 8 billion in 2013, they accounted for more than nine percent of the country' s gdp. the total sum of remittances has steadily increased from 1980 (us $ 339 million) to 2012 (us $ 14. 2 billion). 2013 was the first year to register a decline (2. 3 percent less compared to the previous year). in 2014, remittances re - increased to us $ 14. 9 billion (see figure 3) .
diplomats and staff at the embassy, located in surrah, 10km (six miles) south of kuwait city, were not hurt but several fled towards a nearby police station .
muslims are discarding their forebears’ ethnic symbols (language, dress, food, customs) and forming interethnic muslim communities. “while previous generations accepted the primacy of ethnic and national ties in the practice of their religion, ” writes a researcher, “muslims in europe today often feel that these networks conflict with the universal bond of islam... . islamic ties, for these young muslims, refer exclusively to the concept of umma, or community of believers. ”
as well as attitudes to the pakistani community, we posed some similar questions to separate samples about people from eastern europe, from african countries, and from muslim countries in general .
has been the main source of contemporary islamic resurgence. the islamic revival is also being fueled by such other factors as the challenge of u. s. military and political domination of much of the muslim world, israeli occupation of palestine and the stranglehold of autocratic governments and orthodox muslim religious establishments. but the forward - looking spirit of individual muslims is the most striking feature of this movement. most of the
the workers were employed by a kuwaiti cleaning company and destroyed furniture, windows and documents, a security officer at the scene told the afp news agency .
natalia, a former colleague of mine from india, unexpectedly opened my eyes to racial imbalance in the workplace. in the office she was bubbly, vibrant and steadfast. she always brightened the mood - a great person to have around. despite the fact that we were both hard workers, each with a tertiary education, i later discovered that natalia was paid far less than i was. she also struggled to obtain a necessary work visa from the employer, which was terribly unfair. it was awful to witness her anguish and disappointment trying to sort out her visa issues. i think it' s safe to assume that natalia' s difficulties in the workplace were attributed to her race and gender .
clifford geertz, local knowledge: further essays in interpretive anthropology (new york: basic books, 2000), p. 67 .
. from 2005 to 2010 alone, the gulf states attracted more than 1. 5 million bangladeshi workers, that is 52 percent of all international movements from bangladesh. most of them migrated to the united arab emirates (uae) (647, 000), saudi arabia (523, 000), and qatar (154, 000) (see figure 2). since the united arab emirates introduced further restrictions for male labor migrants in 2012, the number of male bangladeshi workers going there decreased rapidly, while the number of female labor migrants to the uae quadrupled. both male and female labor migration to oman and qatar increased rapidly in recent years. these two states were the two most important destinations for short - contract migrant workers from bangladesh in 2014 .
wikipedia defines an expatriate as :
a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country other than that of the person' s upbringing .
from this description, one would expect that all people, regardless of where they come from, would be considered an' expatriate' when living in a foreign country. wrong .
the government has been concerned enough to take out a $ 40m (£25m) loan from the world bank to help the migrants get back on their feet .
and, incredible as it seems, a dutch scholar estimates that one day “muslims are expected to outnumber non - muslims in europe. ”
dr. benjamin etzold is research associate and lecturer at the department of geography of bonn university, germany. he wrote his dissertation on street trading in the mega city dhaka and was part of a research project on climate change, hunger and migration in bangladesh. his research foci are development geography and migration studies with a focus on social vulnerability and labor conditions. email: etzold @ urltoken
no longer perceived solely as an ‘immigrant’ religion, islam is claiming the right not only to exist but also to flourish within the boundaries of the european union. ”
five of the six early ottoman monarchs were born of greek mothers. the syncretism eventually tapered off as the ottomans attended to furthering islamic culture and islamizing state laws .
pakistanis are seen as better integrated than people from muslim countries in general, suggesting the diaspora has overcome wider fears about the cultural challenge of muslim integration, at least to some extent. the progress of pakistani integration is also seen as dramatically improving from one generation to the next, and to a greater extent than for those from eastern european or african backgrounds .
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secondly, he has to be familiar with the customary law of the land and “exigencies of human life. ”
however, the community is also seen as playing a more positive economic role overall compared with the other groups .
most work in menial jobs, many as cleaners. they have few rights, but provide much needed foreign income to their families at home .
peter schywartz, inevitable surprises: thinking ahead in a time of turbulence (new york: gotham books, 2003), p. 64 .
in summary, this study suggests that a majority of britons tend to think that pakistani migrants are not integrating well into british society. the trait most commonly associated with people from a pakistani background is that they keep to their own, and substantially more so than either african or eastern european communities, at least according to respondents in this study .
now the 22 - year - old is eking out a precarious existence selling fruit on the streets of dhaka after leaving libya with nothing but the clothes on his back .
islam enjoins muslims to use independent judgment, i. e. conduct ijtihad, to determine islamic rules in a new environment. a muslim can be a mujtahid (one who performs ijtihad) if he fulfills two basic conditions. first, he must devote enough time and energy to the study of the quran and examples of the prophet to consider himself competent for the task .
i cried when they took a portable levelling machine i had bought. i had hoped to earn a living with it back in bangladesh .
member states of the gulf cooperation council (gcc) source: bmet database, wage earners remittance inflows: country wise (monthly) in 2014, urltoken (accessed: 8 - 17 - 2015) .
differences between ‘contacts’ and ‘no contacts’ is further pronounced in attitudes to the next generation, with 63% of those who know pakistanis among friends and family saying the next generation is integrating well, versus 32% saying not well, while the ‘no contacts’ are divided between 40% saying ‘well’ versus 41% saying ‘not well’ .
a spokesman for the protesters is reported to have complained that they had not been paid for the last five months .
bangladesh is a country where the united nations estimates around half the 130 million population earns about a dollar a day.
although bangladesh only came into existence in 1971 , the land which is today bangladesh has strong ties to the middle east . bangladeshis in the middle east form the largest part of the worldwide bangladeshi diaspora . out of the 3,975,550 bangladeshis abroad approximately 2,820,000 live within the middle east , 0.075 % of the middle east population , with half of them in saudi arabia , and a quarter of them in the united arab emirates . bangladeshis who come to the middle east are primarily guest workers or day labourers . bangladesh is one of the largest labour suppliers to saudi arabia , in 2007 bangladeshi workers obtained the biggest share , with 23.50 per cent of the 1.5 million saudi arabia visas issued . 
although bangladesh only came into existence in 1971, the land which is today bangladesh has strong ties to the middle east. bangladeshis in the middle east form the largest part of the worldwide bangladeshi diaspora. out of the 3,975,550 bangladeshis abroad approximately 2,820,000 live within the middle east, 0.075% of the middle east population, with half of them in saudi arabia, and a quarter of them in the united arab emirates. bangladeshis who come to the middle east are primarily guest workers or day labourers. bangladesh is one of the largest labour suppliers to saudi arabia, in 2007 bangladeshi workers obtained the biggest share, with 23.50 per cent of the 1.5 million saudi arabia visas issued.
although bangladesh only came into existence in 1971, the land which is today bangladesh has strong ties to the middle east. bangladeshis in the middle east form the largest part of the worldwide bangladeshi diaspora. out of the 3,975,550 bangladeshis abroad approximately 2,820,000 live within the middle east, 0.075% of the middle east population, with half of them in saudi arabia, and a quarter of them in the united arab emirates. bangladeshis who come to the middle east are primarily guest workers or day labourers. bangladesh is one of the largest labour suppliers to saudi arabia, in 2007 bangladeshi workers obtained the biggest share, with 23.50 per cent of the 1.5 million saudi arabia visas issued.