MMC Research Report
Introduction
Bangladesh is one of the most significant countries of origin within the global migration landscape, with millions of its citizens seeking opportunities abroad through both regular and irregular means. Overseas employment has long been a defining feature of Bangladesh’s development trajectory, supporting household incomes and national growth through remittances.
Today, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and Southeast Asia remain the primary destinations for Bangladeshi labour migrants. However, Libya and Italy have also formed part of this broader migration landscape for decades. In recent years, Bangladeshi nationals have consistently ranked among the top nationalities arriving irregularly in Italy, particularly via the Central Mediterranean Route.
Although this corridor remains small compared to established labour migration channels to the Gulf and Malaysia, it has become an increasingly visible and organised pathway to Europe. This trend has been enabled by the emergence of a hybrid migration system in Libya, in which formal entry and residence mechanisms coexist with irregular onward movement.
Within this system, migrants are able to enter Libya through semi-regular channels but subsequently rely on smuggling networks to reach Italy. At the same time, socioeconomic pressures in Bangladesh have intensified, marked by rising unemployment, high living costs, and limited diversification of the domestic labour market.
In parallel, disillusionment with regular migration pathways to the Gulf and Malaysia, often characterized by debt, exploitation, and restricted mobility, has affected their appeal. These overlapping dynamics have created fertile ground for brokers and intermediaries to promote the Libya–Italy route as a viable and desirable alternative. Italy is perceived as a destination where migrants can aspire not only to better economic opportunities but also to a greater sense of dignity and long-term security.
Stories of regularization through past campaigns, family reunification, and social mobility within Italy’s large Bangladeshi diaspora have strengthened its image as a country where hard work can eventually lead to stability and belonging.
For many aspiring migrants, Italy represents an escape from the exploitative yet legal systems of Gulf migration, embodying the possibility of both livelihood and transformation. In light of the growing number of Bangladeshi migrants arriving in Italy via Libya, this report seeks to examine the mechanisms underpinning this movement and to address a critical evidence gap. Despite the visibility of this corridor, little is known about how Bangladeshi migrants reach Italy, or about the actors and processes that facilitate their journeys.
This study therefore explores the motivations, journey planning, facilitation networks, financial arrangements, and protection risks that shape this evolving migration system. By mapping these interconnected dimensions across origin, transit, and destination contexts, the report contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of one of the most complex and underexplored migration corridors linking South Asia and the Central Mediterranean.
Profiles
This research reveals that Bangladeshi migration to and through Libya is not a single, uniform phenomenon but rather a spectrum of experiences shaped by differing levels of agency, information, and exposure to risk. Migrants’ pathways vary according to how informed their decisions are, the degree of deception they encounter, and the conditions they face along the route.
These diverse trajectories can be charted across a continuum of vulnerability, ranging from:
(a) low-risk or planned migration, where individuals travel to Libya through relatively structured channels with valid documents and clear intentions to work there;
(b) medium-risk or deceptive journeys, where misinformation and financial pressure push migrants into irregularity; and
(c) finally to high-risk or exploitative experiences, where individuals are subjected to trafficking and forced labour.
Low risk/planned
Planned labour migrant in Libya
This profile represents the least vulnerable group within the spectrum of Bangladeshi migration to Libya. These migrants travel from Bangladesh with the intention of working legally in Libya, often through semi-formal or formal labour channels, and without plans for onward movement to Europe.
Their journeys are comparatively structured and better resourced, reflecting a higher degree of agency and informed decision-making than other profiles in this study. Historically, labour mobility schemes between the Bangladeshi and Libyan governments enabled official recruitment and placement, channeling arrivals primarily to western Libya, where the internationally recognized government and its labour administration are based.
In recent years, however, an increasing number of Bangladeshi workers have entered through eastern Libya, drawn by reconstruction activities under the Libyan National Army (LNA), which have generated a demand for foreign labour and an alternative system of entry.
According to IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), in 2024, only 11 per cent of Bangladeshi migrants in Libya reported using migration facilitators to reach the country. The majority stated that they held valid passports and work permits, suggesting entry through relatively regular channels.
Among those employed, 87 per cent reported having permanent or fixed-term contracts, which is higher than the rate for all migrants in Libya (78 per cent). These findings suggest two distinct Bangladeshi populations in Libya: one that migrates to work and remains (captured by DTM statistics), and another that transits Libya for irregular onward movement to Italy (most likely not captured by DTM).
While this group faces fewer risks than others in the spectrum, it is important to recognize that the risk of exploitation, wage theft, kidnapping, and poor living conditions remain common. What distinguishes this profile is not the absence of vulnerability, but the relative predictability and stability of their migration experience compared to those who enter Libya irregularly or are deceived along the way.
Their journeys tend to be self-financed—through family savings or modest loans—and largely insulated from the high-risk smuggling networks that dominate the Libya–Italy corridor.
However, as the profiles presented later in this section demonstrate, even planned and documented migration can deteriorate under the pressures of Libya’s volatile security environment and governance gaps.
Several migrants who initially entered Libya through regular channels ultimately found themselves trapped in cycles of abuse or extortion, prompting their eventual departure. These experiences are explored in greater depth in the “Returnee/ Escapee” profile that concludes this spectrum.
Italy aspirant
This profile consists primarily of young men who travel from Bangladesh to Libya with the explicit aim of reaching Italy. They represent the more mobile end of the low-risk category: migrants whose journeys unfold largely according to plan, even within an inherently volatile and dangerous environment. Since 2022, most have entered through eastern Libya, taking advantage of the relatively open visa and entry system that has emerged under the Libyan National Army (LNA), detailed in subsequent sections. In DTM Europe’s 2024 Flow Monitoring Survey, Bangladeshi respondents were primarily surveyed in Italy, reflecting their strong presence among arrivals on both the Central Mediterranean and Western Balkans-Italy routes.
The Bangladesh-specific profile shows a highly consistent demographic pattern: all respondents were men, and nearly three-quarters were aged 18–29. Many reported lower-secondary education and previous employment before departure, with most having worked in sectors such as agriculture and construction. Economic motivations dominated their migration decisions, cited by roughly three-quarters of Bangladeshi respondents (76–78%). The concentration of Bangladeshi interviews in Italy, together with the profiles of those surveyed there, underscores Italy’s central role as the main point of arrival and primary destination among Bangladeshi migrants captured in the 2024 FMS.
Interviews for this study reinforce these patterns and demonstrate that the majority came from close-knit family structures in which migration decisions were collective. Fathers or older male relatives typically negotiated with brokers and financed the journey. Migration was therefore not an individual act of risk-taking but a family project to secure long-term stability. Unlike Gulf migration, which is temporary and cyclical, movement towards Europe is perceived as permanent. These migrants are generally educated enough to aspire to better opportunities abroad but lack the qualifications to access regular migration channels.
While their journeys are considered the smoothest within this spectrum, they are far from risk-free. Even those who move quickly through Libya must navigate territories controlled by armed groups, repeated checkpoints, and widespread extortion. Passage from eastern to western Libya exposes them to the same networks of coercion and rent extraction that entrap others for far longer.
Their crossings to Italy, which are usually by sea from the western coast, remain highly perilous. However, compared to other profiles, they face fewer unexpected disruptions and a higher likelihood of arrival. In this sense, the Italy Aspirant embodies the most “successful” iteration of a high-risk system, where relative luck, timing, and connections reduce, but never eliminate, the dangers of the route.
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