Long Way to Unlock the Chain: Bangladeshi Women in Germany and Italy

Dr Abdul Hai, Fatama Rahman, Marta Abba and Lucrezia Tiberio

Germany and Italy are quite lucrative destinations for Bangladeshi expatriates. Italy is found to be easygoing environment for bangladeshi women. However, Germany attracts them more for the quality education, social security and better financial opportunities.

Difficulty to learn a new language is a common challenge for the Bangladeshi women, who come to Monza, Rome, Frankfurt or Bonn. However, Bangladeshi female students coming to Germany or Italy find it easier than the women coming to meet their spouse. Bangladeshi female students learn from the first day in Italy or Germany to face all burning challenges alone stnding on only two feet. However, Bangladeshi women coming to meet their spouse in Italy and Germany are warmly recieved and accompanied from the arrival gate in the airports to the local administration or even up to the hospital during the pregnancy. Thus Bangladeshi women living with their spouse in both countries become and remain dependent on and obliged to their spouse for the linguistic assistance to the permission to go for work or for driving or riding.

Statistics from Italy confirms that within the population from EU countries, female employment rates are higher than those of Italian women. Particularly affected by inactivity are women from Bangladesh (92.3%), Pakistan (89.8%), and Egypt (85.1%). However, the Bangladeshi women living with their spouse in Germany are not exception in this respect. 95% of Bangladeshi women do more household chores including cooking at home, taking care of children and family members and cleaning responsibility, as women entrepreneurs group from Frankfurt told this reporter in condition of anonymity.

“Initially we had big problems with the neighbor, a lady who lives alone. She had persistently protested to the housing administrator about the smell of our recipes since she sleeps near our kitchen. He had also intervened but then over time my husband invited the lady to come into the house and coffee after coffee, word after word, we became friends and now she’s the Italian person I have the closest and strongest relationship with. She helps me a lot, with the language and not only”, said Monira Khan (pseudonym) living lin Monza in Italy for about 13 years. Sitara Khanum (pseudonym) living in Hürth for about 16 years have had the same embarrassing situation after coming to meet her husband as construction engineer completing his diploma in Germany.   

About 15 years ago, there were quite few women with veils in Bonn or Frankfurt, opines Fariha Ali (pseudonym). However, the use of veil has been frequent and quite known phenomena in the urban environment in Germany, when thousands of Syrian women came to Germany in the beginning of 2015 and afterwards. Especially working women, who come out from the dominance of their spouses at home, they facilitate a congenial environment in the work place and also in the society for the women wearing veil. Sitara Khanum mentions that the veil quite visible from the outside is not much harmful than the inner slavery of the women, who cannot go for work, for riding, driving or learning language only due to the lack of permission from their spouse.

Alike episodes of derision and discrimination remain prominent because of the veil, especially from elderly people and very young people in Italy. One woman tells of being stopped at the supermarket checkout and forced to remove her veil because covering her face was dangerous. She jokes about the COVID period, when she had no problems. In general, they say that lately they see more women with veils around Monza and feel less uncomfortable. Beyond the veil they wear, all are very angry that it’s taken for granted that it’s an obligation for them, added Monoara Shameem (pseudonym).

Medical facilities are quite well and equally ensured for both men and women and natives or migrant people in Germany. Several government and civil society initiatives are quite accessible to eliminate such a discriminatory approach anywhere in Germany. That is why, Bangladeshi women living in Germany like Mir Zabeda Yeasmin feel quite comfortable to live here with ease and happiness without any anxiety. Yeasmin added to this reporter, „I have been living here in Cologne for about 25 years without such a feeling of discrimination and I know quite well where I can go for justice and how I can protest such an attempt, if anybody tries to do it with me.“

On the otherhand, hospital experience especially for childbirth in Italy is a matter of concern for all of the Bangladeshi women and they consider it significant of the welcome they received here. They report kindness and availability but the language issue is very problematic. For general health, many are struck by Italian waiting times and some have returned to Bangladesh for routine or necessary operations quickly and also for husband’s cancer. One woman shared the experience of her small child’s death with good hospital assistance despite the language barrier.

“Fili di storie. Ricami di pace” (Threads of stories. Embroideries of peace) project, promoted by Progetto Integrazione in collaboration with teachers from CREI/Centro Risorse Educative Interculturali of the Istituto Comprensivo di Via Correggio and the Municipality of Monza and with support from Fondazione della Comunità di Monza e Brianza. In Monza’s most multiethnic neighborhood, thanks to a group of Bengali women who have participated since 2023 in the transcultural workshop. Support from Women’s Corner that manages relationships between the transcultural workshop and the rest of the Bengali community. However, such an initiative exclusively for women is lacking in Bonn and Frankfurt. Rather, international women association tries to bring all women together to make them aware of their rights and responsibilities in the German society.

Very recently, it has been a trend to come to Germany, when Bangladeshi families living in Italy have obtained their permanent resident card or Italian passport, as we see around 150 families living in Bonn and Frankfurt. They have moved to Germany from Italy just in last 5 to 7 years. As Irany Akter underscored, „My children love to live and work in Italy. People are quite friendly there. However, because of the quality education, lifestyle, justice, social security and better financial benefits we decided to move to Germany and came to Bonn just 5 years ago.“   

“In Germany my husband works as an employee and is not exploited, he earns well and works eight hours. We took a big house, everything in place, the only problem is people, it’s difficult to meet people, both Germans and foreigners because there are many different communities, in my building they are almost all Pakistanis but also Turks and Ukrainians, I struggle to relate,” another Bangladeshi-Italian woman explained.

“In Germany the Bengali community gathers for festivals and organized evenings but is not united. I see other Bengalis only on somewhat different occasions, different instead in Italy where there are many Bengalis and I met them every day without needing festivals,” she added.

(This report was investigated and produced with the support of Journalismfund Europe.)