Government statistics show that around 2.2 to 2.3 million young people enter Bangladesh's labour market every year. While 1.2 to 1.3 million find employment at home, the remaining 800,000 to 900,000 must seek jobs overseas. For many of them, the journey begins by selling family assets or land, or by taking out high-interest loans to finance a highly uncertain quest for a better future.

Despite hardship, backbreaking work, loneliness and workplace risks, these migrant workers send home remittances every month. Those earnings not only transform the lives of their families but also keep Bangladesh's economy running.

The question, however, is whether more than four decades after Bangladesh began exporting human resources, the country has succeeded in building a safe, hassle-free and fraud-free migration system for those seeking work abroad.

The answer is, to a large extent, no. The history of labour migration to Malaysia is a glaring example.