Can we create a Bangladesh worthy of reverse brain drain?
For expats to return home, there are practical considerations that outweigh patriotism. In the case of Bangladeshis living abroad, rule of law and a safer social environment back home are crucial
Dr Saiful Alam Chowdhury is an assistant professor of Computer Science at the University of Manitoba, Canada. He has been living abroad since 2013. However, he would love to come back to Bangladesh and start working here. He even posted about it on social media under the hashtag, #reversebraindrainbd.
"If given the opportunity, I would like to work on ways to engage third year and fourth year university students in research for free. Also, I am interested in participating in projects to make Master's and PhD programmes fully funded and research oriented," Saiful said in his post from 4 August.
Israt Jahan Khan Chowdhury, a PhD Fellow of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in Mahidol University in Thailand, also wants to come back to Bangladesh. She has been in Thailand for the past three years for her fellowship.
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"I was a victim of medical question leak scam in 2015. In 2015, I protested against it. I was active in the 2018 quota movement as well," she told The Business Standard.
Even after facing all these, she still wants to return to Bangladesh if given the chance, and if she is needed.
"I would like to join as a faculty, set up my own lab and do research for the country on various infectious diseases facing this huge population. I believe my research has the potential to bring about massive changes in the education and medical field of the country," she shared.
On the morning of 4 August, the day before the fall of Sheikh Hasina's regime, the #reversebraindrainbd trend went viral on social media as more than 50 Bangladeshi expatriates like Saiful and Israt began talking about returning to Bangladesh and serving the country.
'Brain drain' is a term commonly used to describe the migration of highly skilled individuals from poorer countries to richer countries for better employment opportunities, a higher quality of life etc.
A contrasting phenomenon is a reverse brain drain, which involves the migration of educated, skilled expatriates back to their homelands. According to social scientists, the reasons for returning may include visa expiration or, in some cases, a person's desire to make a difference in their home country.
The phenomenon has roots tracing back several decades. Its emergence can be attributed to various global economic shifts, technological advancements, and policy changes in both developing and developed countries.
In one of his papers, Rueyling Tzeng, associate research fellow at the Institute of European and American Studies, said, since the 1960s a number of developing Asian countries have suffered the loss of professional (i.e, highly-skilled) workers to Western countries that offer higher quality post-secondary education—a phenomenon popularly referred to as 'brain drain'.
However, in the past two decades, the reverse brain drain trend has become more prominent, especially by the large number of Korean and Taiwanese professionals returning to their homelands. Although the number is smaller, professionals from India and mainland China are also going back to their countries.
"Both the Middle East and Canada offer higher salaries, and excellent law and order, but a highly skilled person will most likely choose the latter because of better individual rights. This example is also true for Bangladesh if we want to have reverse brain drain. It's not just about alluring compensation packages, it's about a social and political system that protects top talents in the end."
The brain drain that Taiwan experienced from the 1950s to the 1970s has worked in reverse since the 1980s.
Similarly, since the beginning of 2000, India experienced a lot of their expatriates coming back to the country, especially in the technology, financial and medical sectors.
"Taiwan's economic prosperity and transformation since the late 1970s has resulted in a reversal of the original East-to-West brain drain. The percentage of returnees jumped to more than 90% in the mid-1980s, with the majority holding advanced degrees from American universities," Tzeng said.
However, is Bangladesh ready for a reverse brain drain?
According to Shafquat Rabbee, a Bangladeshi-American geopolitical columnist who also teaches at the University of Dallas, once a person gets to live and work abroad, s/he eventually gets used to an overall higher standard of living not just in terms of salary, but also a social system which runs according to the rule of law.
While some expatriates, driven by patriotism, may come back to their country, not everyone is driven by it. For expats to return home, practical considerations outweigh patriotism.
"Every person, particularly after a stage in their life, yearns for their country of origin. If certain conditions are met, and somewhat equivalent standards of living and compensation requirements are ensured, many may choose to move back. Overall systemic changes are more important here, rather than just compensation," Rabbee opined.
By overall system, he means the way of doing business and rule of law, as these two are the key reasons behind choosing one country over another.
So, for a reverse brain drain, he believes the overall business environment must be changed. It should start with a focus on meritocracy; in every sector, the top talent must earn top compensation proportionate to internal standards.
The compensation figures may not match, but they must be proportionally in line with international standards.
"A country must also prepare its industries by ensuring a rule of law and meritocracy. Once these two are practiced for a particular time inside the country, there will be productivity gains, eventually leading to the need for higher paid skilled human resources. This may culminate in reverse brain drain", Rabbee added.
Rule of law also protects individual rights and liberties essential for creative work requiring freedom of expression, and intellectual property rights in general.
For example, both the Middle East and Canada offer higher salaries, and excellent law and order, but a highly skilled person will most likely choose the latter because of better individual rights.
Despite all the money and excellent living standards in the Middle East, after working there for decades, people try to migrate to Canada, Australia, the UK, or European countries - because these countries have a system that comes with social and political rights, something the Middle East is not known for.
"This example is also true for Bangladesh if we want to have reverse brain drain. It's not just about alluring compensation packages, it's about a social and political system that protects top talents in the end. A system that will ensure my children's rights and safety even when I am gone, will be the one that I will choose for sure," Rabbee concluded.
