The geography of Bangladeshi migration to Rome

✍ Scribed by Knights, Melanie ;King, Russell

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 345 KB
• Volume: 4
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1077-3495
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1220(199812)4:4<299::aid-ijpg106>3.0.co;2-j

✦ Synopsis

Few studies, if any, have been made of the regional patterning of the new migration ¯ows into southern Europe. With reference to the Bangladeshi community in Rome, this paper provides some answers to three key geographical questions: what is the migrants' regional pattern of origin in their home country; what are the mechanisms and routes of their migration to Italy; how are they spatially distributed in Rome? The main data source for responding to these research questions is the archive of the Bangladeshi Association in Rome. This is supplemented by questionnaire and other data. Within Rome, Bangladeshis are found to be mainly concentrated in the eastern sector of the city, and to a lesser extent to the south. Within Bangladesh the main origins are Dhaka and adjacent districts to the south and east. Chain migration links speci®c origins in Bangladesh with spatial clusters and economic activities in Rome; the key here is the role of Bangladeshi community leaders in Rome who act both as migration sponsors and entrepreneurs. The routes between Bangladesh and Rome are rarely direct but involve a complex variety of intermediate stages re¯ecting the prior evolution of Bangladeshi emigration within the global economy. For this reason the article includes historical background on Bangladeshi emigration since the 1950s.