Upload
ahyanzelman
View
36
Download
2
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
The informal funds transfer system found among South Asian migrant workers in general and Bangladeshi migrant workers in particular in the major labour-receiving countries of East and South-east Asia is popularly known as hundi. The hundi is informal but highly organized and founded on social infrastructure comprised of social and symbolic ties. Existing literature tends to highlight formal remittance channels and is underwritten by either economic or security concerns. Focusing on the social dimensions of the hundi as an informal funds transfer system and the recent security implications of the hundi system, this study examines the operations of and social relationships embedded within the hundi system in the context of East and South-east Asia. Drawing on the experiences of a Bangladeshi sending village as well as four destination countries in East and South-east Asia, this study reports that there are three phases in hundi transactions: the first mile, the intermediary stage and the last mile. The hundi is adopted and transformed through reciprocity. The system is composed of a web of interconnecting social relationships that supports the transfer of migrants’ savings internationally. We find reliability and credibility as essential ingredients to a hundi business and these are maintained through social sanctions. The study suggests that migrant workers’ right to use a cheap and convenient service should be facilitated.
Citation preview
This article was downloaded by:[Rahman, Md Mizanur]On: 4 April 2008Access Details: [subscription number 791933265]Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK
Asian Population StudiesPublication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t714592815
THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF HUNDIMd Mizanur Rahman; Brenda S. A. Yeoh
Online Publication Date: 01 March 2008To cite this Article: Rahman, Md Mizanur and Yeoh, Brenda S. A. (2008) 'THESOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF HUNDI', Asian Population Studies, 4:1, 5 - 29To link to this article: DOI: 10.1080/17441730801963490URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17441730801963490
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE
Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.informaworld.com/terms-and-conditions-of-access.pdf
This article maybe used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction,re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expresslyforbidden.
The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will becomplete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should beindependently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings,demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with orarising out of the use of this material.
Dow
nloa
ded
By:
[Rah
man
, Md
Miz
anur
] At:
05:5
3 4
Apr
il 20
08
THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF HUNDI
Channelling migrant remittances from East
and South-east Asia to Bangladesh
Md Mizanur Rahman and Brenda S. A. Yeoh
The informal funds transfer system found among South Asian migrant workers in general and
Bangladeshi migrant workers in particular in the major labour-receiving countries of East and
South-east Asia is popularly known as hundi. The hundi is informal but highly organized and
founded on social infrastructure comprised of social and symbolic ties. Existing literature tends to
highlight formal remittance channels and is underwritten by either economic or security concerns.
Focusing on the social dimensions of the hundi as an informal funds transfer system and the
recent security implications of the hundi system, this study examines the operations of and social
relationships embedded within the hundi system in the context of East and South-east Asia.
Drawing on the experiences of a Bangladeshi sending village as well as four destination countries
in East and South-east Asia, this study reports that there are three phases in hundi transactions:
the first mile, the intermediary stage and the last mile. The hundi is adopted and transformed
through reciprocity. The system is composed of a web of interconnecting social relationships that
supports the transfer of migrants’ savings internationally. We find reliability and credibility as
essential ingredients to a hundi business and these are maintained through social sanctions. The
study suggests that migrant workers’ right to use a cheap and convenient service should be
facilitated.
KEYWORDS: hundi; remittances; informal channel; East and South-east Asia; Bangladesh;
migrant workers; transnationalism; labour migration; foreign workers
Introduction
The transfers in cash (or kind) from migrants to their non-migrating families in the
source countries are usually referred to as ‘migrant remittances’.1 Migrant remittances are
currently second only to foreign direct investment and are significantly larger than official
development assistance in a number of developing countries (Ratha 2003). Between 2001
and 2005 international migrant remittances’ flows increased by 58 per cent, to reach about
US$ 232 billion (World Bank 2006, p. 88). With about US$ 167 billion, developing countries
received the biggest share, while industrialised countries in North America and Western
European countries are the major sources (World Bank 2006, p. xiii). The true value of
remittances, however, is likely to be much higher because this official account does not
capture informal remittances (Abella 1989). One source estimates informal remittances as
between US$ 100 and US$ 200 billion a year (Sander 2003, p. 4) while another puts the
figure between US$ 200 and US$ 300 billion a year (Migrant Remittances 2004, p. 1). The
Asian Population Studies, Vol. 4, No. 1, March 2008ISSN 1744-1730 print/1744-1749 online/08/010005-25– 2008 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/17441730801963490
Dow
nloa
ded
By:
[Rah
man
, Md
Miz
anur
] At:
05:5
3 4
Apr
il 20
08
flow of this huge amount of remittances demands a systematic inquiry into the channels
through which remittance is transferred across international borders.
Broadly, we can identify two types of funds transfer channels: formal and informal.
Within formal channels, the institutions involved in money transfers are supervised by
government agencies and laws that determine their creation, characteristics, operations
and closure (APEC 2003, p. 3). Formal systems include banks and postal services, money
transfer operators (MTOs) and other wire transfer services, and credit unions. The formal
system is often criticized for high transaction costs and exchange loss. For example, the
World Bank estimates that the average cost of transferring remittances in a formal system
is about 13 per cent and sometimes exceeds 20 per cent of the amount remitted (Maimbo
et al. 2005, p. 5). However, an informal funds transfer channel ‘exists and operates outside
of (or parallel to) conventional regulated banking and financial channels’ (Buencamino &
Gorbunov 2002, p. 1). Informal funds transfer systems have long been in existence
(Udovitch 1970; McPherson 1993). Initially used as part of trade and commerce, they were
also drawn upon by early migrants to transfer savings (Aggarwal 1966; Wu 1967; Hicks
1993; Sandhu & Mani 1993).
Presently, informal systems exist in different countries in different names and forms,
for example, hawala (India, Pakistan and the Middle East), hundi (Pakistan and Bangladesh),
fei-ch’ien (China and South-east Asia), chit (China), chop (China), hui kuan (Hong Kong),
padala and paabot (the Philippines), phei kwan (Thailand), chuyen tien tay ba (Vietnam),
kyeyo money (Uganda), and mali a mbeleko (Zambia) (see Passas 1999; Bezard 2002; APEC
2003; Mellyn 2003; Maimbo & Passas 2004). The kind of informal funds transfer system
found among South Asian migrant workers in general and Bangladeshi migrant workers in
particular in the major host countries of East and South-east Asia is popularly known as
hundi. The hundi is informal but highly organized and founded on social infrastructures
comprising webs of relationships based on kinship, friendship, and regional networks. In
the existing literature, the term ‘hundi’ is used in relation to the ‘hawala’ system found in
the Middle East and South Asia (Passas 1999; Lambert 2002; Thieme 2003; Ballard 2005).
However, the operations and characteristics of the hundi as found in East and South-east
Asia are different in many respects from those of the hawala or other forms of informal
funds transfer methods found globally.
Some variations of hundi operations among countries in East and South-east Asia are
visible and they are mostly attributed to macro-factors such as immigration policy,
financial regulations, geographical proximity and clustering of migrant workers across
national territory of the concerned countries. We can broadly identify two key players in
the hundi system: hundiwala and hundi dealer. Hundiwalas are usually migrant
entrepreneurs, who possess certain entrepreneurial qualities and specific social ties that
provide the basis to seek access to the migrants and their families at home and abroad.
They are physically involved in the collection of cash from migrant workers overseas, and
in the carrying and distribution of cash to the migrants families back home. In contrast to
quasi-similar types of individuals such as the mulas who tend to be only carriers of funds
and American goods to Cuba in the case of US-Cuba remittance systems (Orozco 2002a),
the services that hundiwalas offer are much wider and go beyond the economic
transaction of funds. Hundi dealers are big funds operators, who are usually situated at
the node of regional financial activities such as Singapore and are involved in the transfer
of large funds.
6 MD MIZANUR RAHMAN AND BRENDA S. A. YEOH
Dow
nloa
ded
By:
[Rah
man
, Md
Miz
anur
] At:
05:5
3 4
Apr
il 20
08
The hundi system possesses several distinct features that account for its widespread
use in this region. It includes benefits such as cost-free transaction, door-to-door service,
speedy delivery, cultural convenience, and social rewards for trustworthy participants.
Hundi is considered as a means to reproduce social power and status in the village social
structure. The hundiwalas often enjoy non-economic pay-offs in terms of gaining social
status and power in the migrants’ communities of origin, over and above economic profits,
resulting in the social bases of sustainability of the system. Reliability and credibility of the
hundi are maintained through social sanctions. If these are compared and contrasted with
the formal funds transfer systems in developing countries, which are often plagued by
high transaction costs, long processing, exchange loss, and last but not least, overly
bureaucratic procedures (see also APEC 2003; El Qorchi et al. 2003), it becomes evident
why migrant workers prefer to use hundi system to remit their hard-earned earnings. The
role of different socio-economic groups, such as businessmen, students, and medical
tourists, is also important in the commercial viability of the system because they borrow
funds from hundiwalas overseas for their own uses.
However, the functioning of the hundi system has been severely affected by the
recent securitization drive. Migrant remittances have been a subject of security concern
especially after the 9/11 terrorist attack (Ratha & Kethar 2004; FATF 2003; Burbidge 2004;
Howlett 2002). After 9/11, substantial literature has emerged on remittance-transfers2
(Orozco 2002a; Vadean 2007; Ballard 2004a; World Bank 2002). A survey of the current
literature shows that the discussion has tended to focus on: (i) an elaboration of different
remittance channels; (ii) the disadvantages of the different informal remittance mechan-
isms for national economies; (iii) linking informal transfers with drug dealing and terrorist
financing; (iv) the securitization of remittances; and finally, (v) policy recommendations on
how to increase funds transfer through formal channels, that is, how to ‘bank the
unbanked’. Thus, the overall tone of the existing literature is characterized by economic
and security concerns.
While the existing literature advances our understanding of remittances from the
economic perspective, research is needed in the area of the social dimensions of
remittance-transfer. Apart from this, little is known about the problems associated with
increasing securitization of remittances and the trade-off between such concerns and the
convenience of informal channels of transfer. Focusing on the social dimensions of the
hundi as an informal funds transfer system and the recent security implications on
the hundi system, this study attempts to fill this gap. Broadly, this paper examines the
operations of and social relationships embedded within the hundi system in the context of
East and South-east Asia.
The next section outlines the scope of the study and research methodology. This is
followed by the analytical framework for this study based on migrant network theory, and
a discussion on Bangladeshi labour migration to East and South-east Asia and the
institutional framework for fund-transfers to Bangladesh. Subsequent sections give
emphasis to the social infrastructure of the hundi system, and, by drawing on the
experiences of a Bangladeshi village as well as four destination countries for Bangladeshi
migrant workers, the paper explores the raison d’etre behind the popularity and resilience
of the hundi system. In the conclusion, we raise the fraught question of whether there is
any evidence for a relationship between undocumented migration and informal
remittance channels.
THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF HUNDI 7
Dow
nloa
ded
By:
[Rah
man
, Md
Miz
anur
] At:
05:5
3 4
Apr
il 20
08
Scope and Research Methodology
As funds transfer involves destination and source countries, this study undertakes a
multi-sited research methodology linking both ends. Focusing on Bangladeshi migrant
workers in East and South-east Asia, the research was conducted in Bangladesh as well as
four destination countries*Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore*of significance
in terms of the resultant remittance inflows through the hundi system.
International labour migration in Bangladesh tends to originate mainly from rural
areas.3 To understand the social bases of hundi, we therefore conducted fieldwork at a
predominantly South-east Asian migration source village, Gurail in Tangail district, situated
roughly 60 kilometres away from Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh. The migration history of
this village dates back to the 1980s. In the late 1980s, some enterprising individuals
migrated to Singapore and Malaysia for work and became pioneers of the development of
network-based migration patterns in Gurail and nearby villages. Presently, around two-
thirds of families in Gurail have at least one member in East or South-east Asia and are
mostly dependent on remittances for their livelihood. We focused on Gurail’s basic social
units and the principles for forming and maintaining these groupings to illustrate the
social basis of remittance transfers. This community approach provides insights into the
complexities of the remittance process in Bangladesh.
Fieldwork in host countries involved, in each country, focus group interviews with
migrant workers as well as interviews with individual workers for information about their
personal experiences which they could not reveal during the focus group interview. We
also interviewed some primary and secondary hundiwalas in all four countries studied, as
well as talked to the owners of ethnic stores as many of them are engaged not only in
hundi collection but also in procurement of Bangladeshi goods through hundiwalas. This
has provided us a better way to understand the differences regarding the factors that
determine the relative preference for hundi over formal remittance channels and the
observed variations in the situations and practices of hundi. The fieldwork was conducted
over a period of three months from 2004 to 2005. The strength of this research lies in the
attempt to document the hundi process as a whole by focusing on both home and host
countries rather than by centering on either home or host country only. However, we
would like to acknowledge the fact that the duration of fieldwork was limited by financial
and time constraints, and that this precluded more in-depth fieldwork in certain respects.
Hundi and Migrant Networks
Migrant networks are usually defined as sets of interpersonal ties that connect
migrants, former migrants and non-migrants in the origin and destination areas through
ties of kinship, friendship and shared country origin (Massey & Espana 1987; Massey et al.
1993; Gurak & Caces 1992). Research have not only shown how migrants are linked to each
other through social networks but demonstrated the importance of these networks as the
social infrastructure that sustains the migratory process over time (Massey & Espana 1987;
Boyd 1989; Faist 2000). Migrant networks serve many important functions for their
members including conveying information, providing financial assistance, facilitating
employment and accommodation, and giving support in various forms (Massey et al. 1993;
Arango 2000; Choldin 1973). As migrant networks demonstrate feasibility, reduce the
expected costs and risk and increase the expected benefits of migration, they have been
8 MD MIZANUR RAHMAN AND BRENDA S. A. YEOH
Dow
nloa
ded
By:
[Rah
man
, Md
Miz
anur
] At:
05:5
3 4
Apr
il 20
08
widely used to explain perpetuation of migration at the intermediary level. Apart from
supporting the mobility of labour, migrant networks also facilitate the transfers of migrant
remittances*a phenomenon that has been given far less scholarly attention.
Migrants and hundiwalas are embedded in a social-relational context characterized
by social ties, ‘a continuing series of interpersonal transactions to which participants attach
shared interests, obligations, understanding, memories and forecasts’ (Faist 1997, p. 199).
The strength and content of social ties that bind thousands of Bangladeshi migrants with
hundiwalas into a social and business web are crucially important for understanding the
endogenous dynamics of hundi bonds. Scholars have identified three forms of relation-
ships in migrant networks: obligations, reciprocity and solidarity (Faist 2000). They bind
prospective remitters and network based remittance service providers in an exchange
relationship. Obligations and reciprocity work in the hundi process because each
successful hundi strengthens the bond between migrant worker and hundiwala and
provides a condition for durable exchange relationship. Solidarity is based on inter-
personal and imagined ties that mobilize migrants in favour of remitting through some
particular individuals over others.
Migrant networks constitute a valuable form of social capital that individual
migrants often draw upon during their migratory life to obtain different types of
network-based services (Massey & Espana 1987; Portes 1995). Hundi service can be one of
them. Social capital serves to connect individuals to networks and collectives through
affiliations (Faist 1997). Social capital thus has a dual role: it facilitates cooperation
between individual actors in creating trust and it links individuals to social structures (Faist
1997, 2000). For the hundiwalas facilitating the delivery of funds, migrant networks enable
a lucrative business. Hundiwalas benefit through monetary or social debts incurred during
the process of remittance transfer. Continued participation in network relationships
renews and maintains the bonds between migrants and hundiwalas. In hundi dealing, trust
in the hundi system or ‘hundi trust’ is vital for its sustenance, hence hundiwalas use social
and symbolic ties to garner hundi trust. It is important to note that hundi trust does not
exclusively derive from social and symbolic ties in the communities of origin; it may also
stem from the relationships that may evolve in the course of migration and the common
experience of life in the destination country.
There are some similarities between hundi bonds and guanxi bonds. The Chinese
word ‘guanxi’ refers to the concept of drawing on connections in order to secure favours in
personal relations. It contains implicit mutual obligations, assurances, and understanding
and governs Chinese attitudes toward long-term social and business relationships (Yang
1994; Ying & Walker 2006; Yadong 2000; Willard 1997). Hundi bonds also rely on similar
forms of mutual trustworthiness. We identify two interlocking components in hundi bonds.
The first component is the right of each person to request performance implicit in the
bond. The second component is the obligation to repay. The failure to reciprocate favours
results in the loss of one’s network and the multiple resources embedded in it. Migrant
networks not only provide a fertile ground to develop trust-based services; they also
compel members to uphold the trust through social sanction mechanisms. This is because
migrant networks link migrants and network-based service providers to their origin values
and norms, the same social sanctions that discourage breaching trusts and commitments
in network-based transactions.
Emphasizing the role of migrant networks does not mean neglecting the role that
business networks play in the remittance process. Business networks in remittance services
THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF HUNDI 9
Dow
nloa
ded
By:
[Rah
man
, Md
Miz
anur
] At:
05:5
3 4
Apr
il 20
08
work in collaboration with migrant networks. While migrant networks may usually be
involved in the collection and distribution of funds, business networks make use of funds
efficiently for profit within a given short span of time and therefore contribute to the
commercial viability of the system. Table 1 presents some general features of the hundi.
TABLE 1
General features of Hundi.
Terms Descriptions
Hundi characteristics Administrative charge-free service, no foreign exchange manipulation,door-to-door service, speedy service, and cultural convenience.
Key hundi players Hundiwala and Hundi dealerHundiwalas Primary and secondary hundiwalas: primary hundiwalas are defined as
persons who often move between host and home countries to deliver cash.Secondary hundiwalas are defined as persons who stay in the countryconcerned. Both hundiwalas take the responsibility of distribution of cashsafely to the migrant families.
Hundi dealers Based usually in regional financial hub, Singapore, and engaged in thedealing of large amount of cash for profits. They do not take responsibilityof distribution of cash to migrant families. They only take the responsibilityof safe transfer of cash to the home country.
Hundi trust Sending-end hundi trust and destination-end hundi trust. In sending-endhundi trust, migrant workers pay cash to the hundiwalas based on priorhome-based relationships (social and symbolic ties). In destination-endhundi trust, migrant workers pay cash to the hundiwalas based onrelationships developed in the course of migration in destination end.
Restoration of trust Sending-end based social control mechanisms like traditional authority;destination-end based social control mechanisms like fear of refusing theservices of hundiwalas by migrant communities. Sometimes, bothsending-end and destination-end social pressures are used to restore thehundi trust.
Collection It is the hundiwalas � primary and secondary � who are involved in thecollection of cash from migrant workers. Primary hundiwalas collectdirectly from migrant workers and sometimes take help of secondaryhundiwalas to collect money as found in Malaysia, South Korea and Japan.Primary hundiwalas sometimes pay a portion of the cash to the hundidealers with profits and safe transfers to home country. Secondaryhundiwalas sometimes also pay cash to hundi dealers for profit and safetransfer to home country.
Uses of hundi money Trade, uses by socio-economic groups (e.g. students, medical tourists),transfers to third country because of the strict financial regulation inBangladesh, and luggage business.a
Distribution Primary hundiwalas visit migrant families to deliver cash on a regularbasis. In the case of hundi dealers, migrant families visit the hundi dealer’sagents based mainly in Dhaka. Sometimes, primary hundiwalas collectmoney from the hundi dealer’s agents in Dhaka and visit the migrantfamilies to pass them the cash. Secondary hundiwalas who transfer cashdirectly from the help of hundi dealers, employ agents in Bangladesh tocollect cash from the hundi dealer’s agent based mainly in Dhaka and thendistribute cash to the migrant families back home.
Hundiwala’s profits Economic and non-economic pay offs
aIn the ‘luggage business’, individuals fly to another country to buy goods and return home with thosegoods in their luggage to sell in the local market. Such businessmen can make a profit by evading tax andchoosing high value goods that can be sold at high profits in the home country.
10 MD MIZANUR RAHMAN AND BRENDA S. A. YEOH
Dow
nloa
ded
By:
[Rah
man
, Md
Miz
anur
] At:
05:5
3 4
Apr
il 20
08
Figure 1 presents a prototype hundi transaction found in East and South-east Asia
and is elaborated further in a later section. Figure 1 is broadly divided into three phases:
first mile, intermediary stage and last mile. We have borrowed the terms ‘first mile’,
‘intermediary stage’, ‘last mile’ from Hernandez-Coss (2005), who used the terms to explain
the Canada-Vietnam and the US-Mexico remittances corridor sponsored by the World
Bank. The first mile of the remittance process includes collection of remittance funds in the
host country, the intermediary stage indicates uses and transfer of funds, and the last mile
indicates distribution of funds in the home country. We have suggested that hundi is not a
unidirectional medium of funds transfer as found in the context of other informal
remittance channels, but bidirectional in which funds and goods are transferred from first
mile to the last mile and commercial goods for sale and gifts for migrant workers overseas
are carried from the last mile to the first mile.
Migrant Workers in Host Countries: Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan
Hundiwalas:Collection Point in Host Country
Migrant Families in Bangladesh
eliMt
saL
Secondary HundiwalaeliMt
sriF
rai d
emr
etnI
yat
Sg
sdnu
ffo
ses
U:e
Hs a
lawi
dnu
stf i
g/hs
acht i
wyl
f
Hsa
lawi
dnu
sdoo
g/st
f ig
htiw
ylf
Hs a
law i
dnu
stfi
gev
iec e
r Hsa
lawi
dnu
hsac
revil
eds t
fig
ro/d
na
h sa
C
hsa
C
Hundiwalas or Hundi dealersDistribution Point in Home Country
Transfer of Funds to Hundi
Dealers:
Singapore is the Regional Hundi Hub
Transfer of Funds to Businessmen: Business under-invoicing
FIGURE 1
Hundi operation: channelling remittances from East and South-east Asia to Bangladesh.
THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF HUNDI 11
Dow
nloa
ded
By:
[Rah
man
, Md
Miz
anur
] At:
05:5
3 4
Apr
il 20
08
Figure 1 presents two types of hundi players in the region*hundiwalas and hundi
dealers. Hundiwalas play a pivotal role in micro-hundi dealing and hundi dealers in macro-
hundi dealing. Hundi dealers are fundamentally users and transferers of cash. Some
enterprising migrant workers as well as hundiwalas act as facilitators and collaborators in
the collection of cash for hundi dealers. In macro-hundi dealings, a client in country X
hands over a sum of money to the hundi dealer and requests that the equivalent amount
be sent to a designated recipient in country Y. The sending hundi dealer relays all the
necessary information concerning the transaction to a counterpart hundi dealer in country
Y. The hundi dealer in country Y will give the money to the recipient upon presentation of
some sort of identification (resembling Hawala, see Monsutti 2005; El-Qorochi et al. 2003).
In this transaction, money is transferred between two parties living in two different
countries but neither hundi dealers nor cash necessarily cross borders.
Labour Emigration and Remittance Flows in Bangladesh
Experiencing a huge surplus of labour and economic stagnation immediately after
its independence in 1971, Bangladesh has pursued an active policy to facilitate
international labour migration for its nationals. The country has entered in the labour
markets of oil-rich Middle Eastern countries as early as the mid-1970s. Soon after
occupying the Middle East market, Bangladesh targeted the comparatively developed
economies of East and South-east Asia.4 By early 1990s, thousands of Bangladeshis started
to migrate for work to the countries of East and South-east Asia, for example, South Korea,
Malaysia and Singapore. In addition to the government’s initiatives, Bangladeshis also
joined in the labour market of these countries through personal initiatives. In the last
decade, around 200,000 Bangladeshis migrated annually through the official channel (see
Lian & Rahman 2006). According to available data, the total cumulative figure for
Bangladeshi documented migrants overseas until 2007 was approximately 4.5 million, and
for East and South-east Asia alone, it was roughly half a million.5
Japan is not a formal recipient of unskilled migrant workers. However, given
loopholes in legal mechanisms, since 1980 many enterprising Bangladeshis have entered
Japan by using tourist, student, business or transit visas and later overstayed to work
indefinitely. Some Japanese sources revealed that between 1990 and 1998, there were
63,170 Bangladeshi over-stayers (Watanabe 1998, p. 246). Recorded remittances between
1991 and 2005 amounted to US$ 414.09 million (Table 2).
Bangladeshis started to migrate to South Korea in the early 1990s under the trainee
programme called ‘Foreigners Industrial Training Programme’ (FITP). According to a
Bangladeshi source, Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET), only 11,165
trainees between 1994 and 2004 went to South Korea for work. However, the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) report (2000, p. 211) revealed that the
cumulative figure for Bangladeshi over-stayers in South Korea between 1992 and 2000 was
69,600. This inconsistency in data is mainly due to the clandestine nature of migration. The
recorded remittance from South Korea was only US$ 2.27 million from 1991 to 2005 (Table 2).
Formal recruitment of Bangladeshi migrant workers in Malaysia started in the early
1990s. According to one source, between 1992 and 1998, 307,000 Bangladeshi migrant
workers were issued work permits to work in Malaysia (Athukorala & Manning 1999, p.
177). The amount of recorded remittances between 1991 and 2005 was US$545.31 million
(Table 2). Similarly, large scale migration of Bangladeshi migrants to Singapore also started
12 MD MIZANUR RAHMAN AND BRENDA S. A. YEOH
Dow
nloa
ded
By:
[Rah
man
, Md
Miz
anur
] At:
05:5
3 4
Apr
il 20
08
TABLE 2
Country-wise and year-wise remittances earned in million US$.
Year
Country 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Total US$
Japan 81.90 49.73 30.41 32.76 27.69 24.7 0.98 29.98 45.16 16.09 11.60 15.13 18.78 19.18 10.76 414.85Malaysia 4.78 27.45 71.56 72.70 22.47 71.28 57.22 45.56 31.85 49.14 33.51 35.38 22.41 545.31Singapore 1.90 37.83 2.42 2.32 3.78 5.10 66.45 12.16 11.28 10.53 8.15 25.26 28.92 35.34 55.98 307.42South Koreaa 1.26 1.01 4.80 2.27
Source: Compiled from official data, Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) http://www.bmet.org.bd/Reports/countrywiseremittance.htm (accessed 7 May2007).aRemittance inflow from 1991 to 2001 is not available on official record.
TH
ESO
CIA
LO
RG
AN
IZA
TIO
NO
FH
UN
DI
13
Dow
nloa
ded
By:
[Rah
man
, Md
Miz
anur
] At:
05:5
3 4
Apr
il 20
08
in the early 1990s. There are approximately 50,000 Bangladeshi migrants in Singapore in
any given year since the mid-1990s (Rahman & Lian 2005). The amount of recorded
remittances between 1991 and 2005 was around US$ 307 million (Table 2). According to
official data, Bangladesh received around US$ 40 billion from its nationals overseas as
remittances between 1976 and 2006.6 Formal funds transfer systems in Bangladesh
include banks, MTOs and postal services. Bangladesh Bank,7 as the central bank of the
country, permits other banks to establish drawing arrangements with foreign banks and
exchange houses for facilitating remittance flows from Bangladeshi nationals living abroad
(de Bruyn & Kuddus 2005, p. 30; Siddiqui & Abrar 2003; Ullah & Panday 2007).
Bangladeshi banks began their operations in East and South-east Asia in the 1990s.
Some banks that have arrangements with foreign banks and exchange houses in East and
South-east Asia are Sonali Bank, Janata Bank, National Bank, Agrani Bank, Islami Bank and
United Commercial Bank. Transfers of money from these countries usually take from weeks
to months. Some migrant workers are found unhappy with long delays, corruption and
unfriendly attitude of Bangladeshi bank officials in these countries (see also The Daily
Ajkerkagoj 4 May 2005). Another important player in formal funds transfer systems is MTOs.
They provide speed service but charge higher fees. Western Union and MoneyGram are
examples of two major MTOs. Migrants can transfer money to more than 225,000 Western
Union Agents located in over 195 countries and territories worldwide.8 MoneyGram is
operating in 170 countries worldwide and have 75,000 local agents. The MTOs presently
cover major district cities in Bangladesh. Another potential method of funds transfer is
postal services. However, it is not popular among Bangladeshi migrants overseas.
The data on informal remittances are sketchy. Mahmud (1989) reports that informal
remittances account for 20 per cent of the total amount of remittances in Bangladesh
(cited in Puri & Ritzema 1999, p. 8). Siddiqui and Abrar’s (2001) study on labour migrants to
the United Arab Emirates revealed that 40 per cent of remittances were channelled
through informal means (cited in de Bruyn & Kuddus 2005, p. 29). An International Labour
Office (ILO) study on remittances in Bangladesh revealed that 10 out of 100 remittance-
receiving families faced problems with the hundi, whereas nearly twice the number (19
people) encountered problems with official transfer methods (van Doorn 2002/4, p. 50).
Ullah and Panday (2007) recently conducted a survey on Bangladeshi migrant workers in
Malaysia and Hong Kong (n�126) and found that only seven per cent of migrants from
Hong Kong and some six per cent of migrants from Malaysia sent remittances through
formal channels. According to a recent Asian Development Bank (ADB) report, 70 per cent
of total remittances from Singapore to India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka go through
informal channels commonly known as hawala and hundi (ADB 2006, p. 43). It is thus
obvious that a large amount of remittances enters the country informally. Among the
informal funds transfer systems, the hundi is a popular vehicle of funds transfer among
Bangladeshi migrants. Some other traditional informal systems that are used include hand-
delivery and hand carriage.
Case Study in Home Country
Hundi in Gurail: Role of Social and Symbolic Ties
The multi-layered relations that exist between hundiwalas and migrants and their
non-migrating family members are of paramount importance in forming the social basis of
14 MD MIZANUR RAHMAN AND BRENDA S. A. YEOH
Dow
nloa
ded
By:
[Rah
man
, Md
Miz
anur
] At:
05:5
3 4
Apr
il 20
08
hundi. The relationships are complex, and understanding them requires an elaboration of
some of the basic spatial and social groupings in Gurail and the principles for forming and
maintaining these groupings. Our aim here is to explain the bases of cooperation and
mobilization of resources in a situation of migration and remittances in rural Bangladesh.
Gurail’s major social groups include the family (paribar), gusthi (lineage), and samaj
(community). These parallel the physical divisions of ghar (home), bari (collection of
families), and para (hamlet or locality) (see Bertocci 1972; Rozario 1992; Wood 1994; Kuhn
1999; Gardner 1995). The most basic grouping is the family. The family is usually defined as
a group that shares property and eats together from the same hearth (Rozario 1992). The
second important social group is the bari, which usually stands for a group of families
sharing the same courtyard. In general, baris are components of a larger group such as the
gusthi or para.
The term gusthi refers to the group of kin who trace their descent from one male
ancestor. Para is a spatial grouping that means neighbourhood. Individuals are usually
known to the outside para as members of particular bari. Generally, the name of the
lineage is the name of the bari. However, sometimes names of the bari change with the
outstanding achievements of bari members. For instance, some of the baris in this village
and neighbouring villages are popularly known as the Singapore bari, Malaysia bari, and
Korean bari. This means that someone from these baris must have migrated to the
countries concerned. Thus, international migration functions as a source of new identity
for oneself and one’s family and bari. Outside of kinship ties, esthanio9 and attiyo10 are
particularly important (Rahman 2004). People in their day-to-day life use these terms to
indicate the relationship and responsibility that goes with it. The term ‘esthanio’ implies
common origin or being from the same place and an esthanio is someone from the same
community of origin. In the migration literature, we find similar group ‘paisanaje’ in the
context of Mexico (Massey & Espana 1987). The term ‘attiyo’ indicates the broader kin
relationships.
The closest bonds outside the family, attiyos and esthanios are friendship between
people of roughly the same age. Although initially concentrated among persons of the
same age, friendships gradually became inter-generational, as migrants of all ages are
drawn together by the common experience of life overseas. Important friendships are
formed with fellow migrants beyond the esthanio category, embracing people from other
administrative units like the district, through the shared experiences of working overseas.
In this way, interpersonal relationships within the migrant networks are extended beyond
those possible through kinship, local friendship and esthanio alone. The bonds of these
social ties do not lose their importance; in fact, they are augmented by new relationships.
In contrast to social ties, symbolic ties can be mobilized even in the absence of earlier
direct contact. Symbolic ties are perceived bonds forged by face-to-face interaction, or
even indirectly, to which participants attach shared meanings, memories, future
expectations and representations (Faist 2000). Among the migrants in East and South-
east Asia, it is found that they usually form symbolic ties based on the district of origin
which often overlaps with social ties formed during the course of international migration.
Formation of Hundi Networks
To understand how migration and the subsequent hundi system developed in a
remote village like Gurail, we need to focus on the history of migration in Gurail.
THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF HUNDI 15
Dow
nloa
ded
By:
[Rah
man
, Md
Miz
anur
] At:
05:5
3 4
Apr
il 20
08
Emigration from Gurail changed from a trickle to a flood after a few men migrated to
South-east Asia as early as 1988 (Rahman 2004). The first few migrants returned and on
subsequent trips initiated others into the migration process. Every new migrant created a
new connection to the region. As more people migrated, the number of connections
rapidly expanded and the quality of the ties also improved as people had already learned
to adjust to life overseas. In-depth interviews with 12 early migrant workers in 2001
revealed that they assisted 101 migrants by providing both financial support and
information and another 182 migrants by providing either financial support or information
in their total working period in Singapore (Rahman 2004). Thus, all that is necessary for a
migrant network to develop is for one forerunner migrant to be in the right place at the
right time and to hold a position that allows him to distribute favours to others from his
community of origin.
One of the early migrants from Gurail was Asor Mia, who first worked as a
construction worker and later as a middleman for recruitment and occasional hundiwala.
Asor Mia is believed to be the first person who introduced the hundi to the villagers in the
early 1990s as migration for work generated foreign earnings that needed to be carried
back home. In the late 1990s, there were few hundiwalas who served Gurail and other
nearby villages as primary hundiwalas. In our case study in 2005, we found two primary
hundiwalas, who were serving Gurail and neighbouring villages by carrying remittances
from Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea on a regular basis. In addition to these primary
hundiwalas, we also found some secondary hundiwalas who were working for some other
primary hundiwalas based in nearby towns, Mirzapur and Tangail. As we have mentioned
earlier, hundi trust also stems from the relationships that may evolve in the course of
migration in the destination country. In the case of destination-end hundi trust, these
secondary hundiwalas are simply couriers*who carry cash and/or goods from primary
hundiwalas to migrant families and vice-versa.
Operation of Hundi
Both hundiwalas identified here were early migrants in the locality. One of the
hundiwalas had 15 years of migration experience in Asia comprising the Middle East and
South-east Asia while the other had 14 years mainly in South-east Asia. The period of their
involvement in hundi ranged from 9 to 11 years. However, this does not mean that they
were primary hundiwalas for the whole period. At first, they were involved in hundi as
secondary hundiwalas in the destination country. Over time, they have been linked to
migrants overseas and the migrants’ families back home in several ways. Some migrant
families know them both as facilitators of migration and as hundiwala. Others who did not
seek help in the process of migration but asked assistance in the remittance process know
them more as hundiwalas. One of the most important characteristics of these relationships
is reciprocal obligations which include the exchange of personal favours.
Hundiwalas maintain reciprocal relations with migrant families and vice-versa.
Hundiwalas hand over the cash only to the family members that migrants suggest each
time (e.g. parents, wives, siblings, etc.). This level of loyalty to migrant workers guarantees
continuity and strengthens bonds between both parties. During their visits to family
members, hundiwalas also convey first-hand information about the experiences and the
physical condition of the migrants, which bears enormous meanings to loved ones at
home. Hundiwalas sometimes offer advance payment to needy left-behind families. This
16 MD MIZANUR RAHMAN AND BRENDA S. A. YEOH
Dow
nloa
ded
By:
[Rah
man
, Md
Miz
anur
] At:
05:5
3 4
Apr
il 20
08
‘generosity’ further binds both parties in reciprocal obligations. Every Bangladesh-bound
journey for a hundiwala consists of gifts and news about non-migrating members that
migrants overseas are waiting for and vice-versa. To migrant families and their members
abroad, hundiwalas are a link between home and abroad. Each hundi transaction enhances
reliability and credibility of particular hundiwala and ensures a respectable position in the
village social hierarchy.
However, breach of hundi trust produces shame and damages reputation for
hundiwalas and their respective baris. Therefore, if any breach of hundi trust happens,
heads of different social groups like bari, gusti and samaj sit together to resolve the
unpleasant incident. Migrant families resort to community leaders for resolution but they
normally do not have any evidence to prove their claims. Therefore, they see the legal
system as almost incapable of producing positive results for them. In the community
setting, the decision of the traditional leaders must be respected and followed by both
parties. Commonly delivered decisions are: paying back the cash to the migrant families in
a limited period and sometimes with interest, the failure of which means confiscation of
the erring hundiwala’s seasonal crops, landed property, and so on. However, where hundi
trust is established in the destination country, social sanctions are different and the origin
villages have little role to play.
Case Studies in Four Destination Countries
Japan
We find both hundiwala and hundi dealers in Japan. Hundiwalas, especially primary
hundiwalas, are involved in the process of the collection of cash and are responsible for
delivery of cash to the migrant families in Bangladesh. However, they are not usually
carriers of cash, which makes them an exception compared to findings in the other three
countries under investigation (South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore). Primary hundiwalas
in Japan are usually among the earlier wave of migrants who have acquired residence
permits or other types of legal status over time. We found dozens of South Asian ethnic
stores in Tokyo and in other big cities of Japan, many owned by early Bangladeshi
migrants. These ethnic stores usually sell South Asian products, especially halal food,
catering to South Asian customers in general and the Muslim population in particular.
They serve as the primary contact points for collection of cash from migrant workers.
Hundiwalas use personal relations that have developed over time to contact the ethnic
shop owners and make agreements with regard to the collection of cash. They often
charge a fixed commission for their service ranging between 3 and 10 per cent.
Prospective remitters pay the cash to the ethnic stores and leave a note of their
details including the recipient’s name and address in Bangladesh. Hundiwalas later collect
the cash and the relevant details from the shop-owners. As hundiwalas maintain contacts
across the country and due to the impracticality of travel from one part of Japan to
another, they usually request shop-owners to deposit the cash into their bank accounts
and fax over recipients’ personal details. Primary hundiwalas contact the secondary
hundiwalas who are usually new migrants (who possess valid documents) or luggage
businessmen to send the cash to Bangladesh. These secondary hundiwalas travel weekly
on the ‘Bangladesh Biman’ which flies directly from Tokyo to Dhaka. On their outbound
trips, they usually carry gadgets and other industrial products to sell in Bangladesh; on
THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF HUNDI 17
Dow
nloa
ded
By:
[Rah
man
, Md
Miz
anur
] At:
05:5
3 4
Apr
il 20
08
their inbound trips, they carry various Bangladeshi goods to be sold in the ethnic stores.
However, as the airfare is expensive, regular visits do not produce substantial profits for
both parties. In addition, the visa for Japan is usually offered for single entry only, further
erecting barriers to frequent transnational boundary crossings.
Primary hundiwalas, therefore, transfer the bulk of the cash to two main groups:
regional hundi dealers and businessmen (importers from Bangladesh). The hundi dealers’
profit usually stems from two important sources: currency exchange rates manipulation
and the use of cash in business dealings including transfers of funds to a third destination
country (usually a developed country) and loans to Bangladeshi importers for the purpose
of ‘under-invoicing’ (Figure 2). Funds transfer is a profitable business for hundi dealers.
Their clientele include business, political and military elites who wish to circumvent
financial regulations in Bangladesh to transfer funds to a third country for personal
savings. Financial regulatory mechanisms hence generate a demand for the external funds,
creating a niche that hundi dealers can fill. In this situation, money very often moves in
both directions: into the country and out on behalf of another economic agent who wants
the foreign exchange (for details see Brown, 1994).
Japan is one of the most important importing partners for Bangladesh. Amidst the
large volume of business transactions between Japan and Bangladesh, migrant workers’
money plays an important role, especially in facilitating ‘under-invoicing’ in the import
trade. In an under-invoicing business deal, Bangladeshi businessmen make a deal with
foreign companies to under-value imported goods in official papers. Once the deals are
struck, they borrow the cash from hundiwalas or hundi dealers to pay the partner
companies behind closed doors. In some cases, we find the practice of ‘confirmation-
2. Businessman collects cash from hundi dealer or hundiwalas and pays the promised cash to the company unofficially.
3. Businessman pays back the cash to the Last Mile agent and sometimes this payment takes place confirmation-before-payment arrangement
1. Businessman contacts company from importing country and makes deal regarding under-invoicing
FIGURE 2
Under-invoicing in business. Use of money at intermediary stage. Source: Adapted from
McCusker (2005).
18 MD MIZANUR RAHMAN AND BRENDA S. A. YEOH
Dow
nloa
ded
By:
[Rah
man
, Md
Miz
anur
] At:
05:5
3 4
Apr
il 20
08
before-payment’ where the recipients in Bangladesh receive the money from the
hundiwalas first before the remitters in Japan make the payments. Businessmen who
have already earned the trust of the hundiwalas do not need to pay the cash in advance.
The motivation for under-invoicing stems from the profit that the businessmen can make
by evading import duties in Bangladesh (Figure 2).
South Korea
The hundi system also exists as a dominant channel of remittances from South
Korea. We identified both hundiwalas and hundi dealers in South Korea. In contrast to
Japan, primary hundiwalas in South Korea are tourist visa holders who fly frequently to
South Korea on hundi business. Many of them worked in South Korea as trainees before
switching to the hundi business. Secondary hundiwalas are usually migrant workers*documented or undocumented*who have taken on remittance business as part-time
work alongside their regular jobs. Secondary hundiwalas are found in different industrial
sites or cities, where large congregations of Bangladeshi migrant workers can be found.
They are also found at worksites where there might be fewer than 100 migrants to cater
to. These are places where the bulk of unauthorized Bangladeshi migrant workers live in
scattered camp-like situation. These workers often avoid public places and spend much of
their time at the workplace. To meet the needs of these workers for remittance services,
enterprising migrants sometimes take on remittance business as a part-time activity. Upon
the collection of cash, they transfer the cash to primary hundiwalas with commissions
ranging from 3 to 10 per cent. The rates of commission vary depending on the presence of
pre-existing peer, regional or kinship ties.
In South Korea, the use of cash at the intermediary stage resembles that of Japan.
Primary hundiwalas basically use the cash in two areas: loans to Bangladeshi businessmen
for under-invoicing and the transfer of cash to regional hundi dealers. In both cases, they
make substantial profits. In addition, some primary hundiwalas carry cash with them
during their outbound trip to Bangladesh. From South Korea, hundiwalas do not convert
remittance money into kind because goods are expensive and do not generate substantial
extra value. However, at the time of their inbound trip to Korea, they carry Bangladeshi
goods to sell in the South Asian ethnic stores. As visa procedures are more liberal in South
Korea and there is also provision for on-arrival visas for Bangladeshis, primary hundiwalas,
who have never stayed beyond their visa allowance, can easily obtain a three-month long
stay permit in South Korea. This has further encouraged the widespread use and
development of the hundi system in South Korea.
Malaysia
The collection and use of migrant remittances in Japan and South Korea differ in
many respects from those of Malaysia and Singapore. While hundi dealers play a pivotal
role in the first two countries, we find that primary hundiwalas play the dominant role in
Malaysia and Singapore because mainly of geographical proximity to Bangladesh and
liberal visa policies in both countries. Primary hundiwalas in Malaysia are usually early
migrants who are eligible for multiple entry visas and therefore can fly back and forth
frequently. Secondary hundiwalas are either documented or undocumented migrant
workers. The remittance business features as part-time work to augment their incomes.
THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF HUNDI 19
Dow
nloa
ded
By:
[Rah
man
, Md
Miz
anur
] At:
05:5
3 4
Apr
il 20
08
The geographical origins of Bangladeshi migrant workers in Malaysia are very diverse.
There might be as many as twenty districts in Bangladesh from where a large number of
migrants hail. This diversity has produced enormous numbers of hundiwalas, especially
secondary hundiwalas because it is principally the secondary hundiwalas whom migrant
workers trust primarily. The collection of remittances in Malaysia is similar to that in South
Korea, reflecting the large number and widespread distribution of undocumented migrant
workers in both countries.
Upon the collection of cash, secondary hundiwalas transfer the cash to the
designated bank accounts of primary hundiwalas and send them mobile phone text
messages (via Short Message Service) informing them of the details of these transfers.
Based on predetermined rates, they deduct their commissions from the collected cash at
the time of the transfer. Primary hundiwalas fly with cash and goods to Bangladesh on
weekdays and return to Malaysia with Bangladeshi goods to sell in ethnic stores on
weekends. The second route to channel remittances is the same as that found in South
Korea and Japan: transfers of cash to businessmen for under-invoicing and regional hundi
dealers. However, the under-invoicing phenomenon is much less common in Malaysia
where there is a general lack of coordination between hundiwalas and businessmen
(importers). While the bulk of the cash is carried by hundiwalas themselves on their regular
weekly trip, only a small portion of the cash is transferred to the regional hundi dealers for
profits.
Recently, however, a significant number of Bangladeshi students have been
emerging as new users of cash. Every year, thousands of self-financing Bangladeshi
students enroll in educational institutions in Malaysia and borrow cash from hundiwalas to
meet their educational expenses. Hundiwalas also collect cash from their parents in
Bangladesh at predetermined interest rates. The demand for such funds transfer exists
because formal transfers of fund from Bangladesh to other countries involve lengthy
bureaucratic procedures which many parents find not only inconvenient but also ‘costly’
because of the foreign currency conversion rates and, at times, off-putting due to the
unprofessional conduct of officers.
Some migrants have married local Malay-Muslim women and integrated into the
mainstream of Malaysian society. These are the individuals who have opened up shops
and businesses to serve the South Asian migrants. Some hundiwalas receive financial and
immigration support from these immigrant communities in the form of sponsorship for
long-time Malaysian visas.
Singapore
In many ways, Singapore is a classic example of the hundi system in East and South-
east Asia. Until recently, the hundiwala was almost the sole operator of remittance
transfers for Bangladeshi migrant workers in Singapore. Primary hundiwalas in Singapore
are usually tourist visa holders who fly back and forth weekly. We find the role of
secondary hundiwalas limited and, in some cases, trivial. Unlike secondary hundiwalas in
South Korea, Japan and Malaysia, secondary hundiwalas in Singapore are more like
collaborators who assist the primary hundiwalas in the collection but do not charge any
commission for their services. Hundiwalas use kinship, friendship and regional/village
networks to find these collaborators. The phenomenon of Sunday gatherings is very
popular among migrant workers in Singapore. There might be around 25,000 to 35,000
20 MD MIZANUR RAHMAN AND BRENDA S. A. YEOH
Dow
nloa
ded
By:
[Rah
man
, Md
Miz
anur
] At:
05:5
3 4
Apr
il 20
08
Bangladeshis who regularly congregate at Little India on Sunday afternoons for a myriad
of purposes including the business of remitting money home.
Migrant workers who intend to remit money home visit particular lanes, roadsides or
shop premises in Little India on Sundays and meet their particular hundiwalas to whom
they hand in the cash directly. This Sunday phenomenon, as well as Singapore’s small
geographical size, has contributed to the dominance of primary hundiwalas in the direct
collection of cash, in contradistinction to the other three countries. Primary hundiwalas
visit Singapore usually on Fridays and collect the cash on Sundays. They do some
shopping on Mondays and leave Singapore by Tuesday. It is important to note that
electronics, cosmetics and gold ornaments from Singapore (not necessarily made in
Singapore) bear high social and economic value in Bangladesh in general and many
migrant-source districts in particular because the possession of such goods provides a
context to claim higher social status in some source areas (Rahman 2004). The operation of
the system is simple: collect cash from migrants; spend the cash to purchase different
types of goods; return to home country with goods; sell them in the local markets for tidy
profits and pay back the money to the migrant families. On the return journey, they carry
goods to sell in Bangladeshi shops in Singapore. Over time, several dozens of Bangladeshi
shops have come into being in Singapore to serve Bangladeshi migrant workers.
In the case of Singapore, hundiwalas usually collect money from migrants of their
geographic origin so that they can deliver the cash within the weekly circle. Some
hundiwalas also transfer cash to hundi dealers in Singapore with commission. In addition,
Singapore as a regional education and health-care hub has been able to attract a
substantial number of Bangladeshi students and medical tourists annually. We also
observed some use of migrant savings in education and medical tourism.
Singapore as a global city is well-connected in the region and the rest of the
world. The hundi business capitalises on its financial connectedness in the global
economy. Singapore as a regional centre for business and financial activities follows a
liberal policy for transfers of funds internationally, and this has accorded to Singapore
the reputation of being a regional ‘hundi hub’. Singapore plays the central role in hundi
dealing in East Asia, South-east Asia, Oceania and South Asia, paralleling the role of
Dubai in hawala dealing in Middle East, Europe and South Asia. Some changes, however,
have taken place in recent years. One of these is the imposition of visa restrictions on
Bangladeshis after 9/11. Formal remittance players are presently taking advantage of
these restrictions to establish a presence, as reflected in the sharp rise in total inflow of
remittances from Singapore in the last three years in terms of the recorded remittances
data (see Table 2).
Although the hundi has emerged as a trusted system in East and South-east Asia, it is
not free from the risk of betrayal. Migrants are generally aware that they have little
recourse to the law in the case of fraud to recoup their money as they lack legal
documents. While in the minority, we found that in all four countries studied, there were a
few cases wherein hundiwalas did not pay back the cash to the recipients at all or cases
wherein there were delays in delivering the cash to the families back home. As hundi trust
at the destination end is often built on the relationships developed and expanded in the
course of migration, the concerned migrant workers therefore get in touch with their
primary contact points to recoup the cash. In general, other migrant workers in tandem
with concerned migrants and hundiwalas usually organize meetings for an amicable
solution and the decision that arises from such community meetings is usually maintained
THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF HUNDI 21
Dow
nloa
ded
By:
[Rah
man
, Md
Miz
anur
] At:
05:5
3 4
Apr
il 20
08
by the concerned hundiwalas. Otherwise, the hundiwalas who are responsible for betrayal
will lose trust among the migrant community leading eventually to the termination of
hundi enterprise. If hundi trust is built on the social and symbolic ties in the communities
of origin, community leaders back home play the dominant role in the repayment of
cash.
Features of Hundi: Home and Host Countries
We have shown three phases in hundi transactions, involving the first mile (host
country), the intermediary stage and the last mile (home country). We have identified
some differences in the collection of cash in the four countries studied. While hundiwalas
in Japan use ethnic shops as a collection point, hundiwalas in the other three countries
physically approach the prospective remitters to collect the cash. Primary hundiwalas are
usually liable to the migrant workers and their families for the ultimate payment of cash.
However, this is not the case in all four countries. In South Korea and Malaysia, the liability
lies primarily with the secondary hundiwalas, who are in fact fellow migrant workers. This is
because migrant workers are from diverse sources (districts of origin in Bangladesh); they
are mainly irregular in status and enter the country in large numbers; and they
are geographically scattered in different parts of the host country. As a result, many
primary hundiwalas find it difficult to manage without sharing the liability with some
intermediary group. This sharing of liability with secondary hundiwalas has made the hundi
popular and accessible to all sections where migrant workers are, whether they are
working legally or illegally, in cities or remote places, and in construction, the plantations
or manufacturing.
We have described how migrant workers’ money is used and re-used at the
intermediary stage to make profit. The involvement of different interest groups*for
instance, businessmen and regional hundi dealers*at the intermediary stage in fact has
not hampered the transfer process; rather, it has made the process smoother and more
profitable for the hundiwalas. The uses and re-uses of funds at the intermediary stage
depend on the geo-political location of the host countries. We have found some
similarities in the use and re-use of funds between Japan and South Korea in East Asia and
between Malaysia and Singapore in South-east Asia. In East Asia, a sizeable amount of
remittances is used for the purpose of import under-invoicing. However, in South-east
Asia, hundiwalas play a much more important role in the transfer process. They spend
remittances on goods for sale in home market while use of remittances for import under-
invoicing is minimal. The South-east Asia scene has also given rise to the emergence
of new users such as students and medical tourists as reported in the cases of Malaysia
and Singapore. The role of hundi dealers, however, remains equally important in both
regions.
We have explained the bases of cooperation and mobilization of resources in a
situation of migration and remittances in a migration source village, Gurail, Bangladesh.
We have shown how hundi developed in a remote village. Migrant families and hundiwalas
are found embedded in a social-relational context characterized by social and symbolic
ties. Hundiwalas are found to have benefited through money or social debts incurred in
the process of remittance transfers. We have shown that in the hundi system, one requires
social capital and embeddedness in social relations. The hundi is thus founded on social
infrastructure comprising social and symbolic ties, which is reinforced through reciprocity
22 MD MIZANUR RAHMAN AND BRENDA S. A. YEOH
Dow
nloa
ded
By:
[Rah
man
, Md
Miz
anur
] At:
05:5
3 4
Apr
il 20
08
over time. The system is composed of a web of interconnecting social relationships that
supports the transfer of migrants’ savings internationally. We have focused on reliability
and credibility as essential ingredients to a hundi business, and these are maintained
through social sanctions. Failure to maintain the principles of hundi leads to permanent
damage of reputation at home and abroad and may even lead to eventual cessation of
business.
We have shown that the hundi possesses several characteristics. Two of the
economic incentives that hundiwalas offer to migrant workers are exchange rates which
are higher than those offered by formal institutions and zero-fee services. Hundiwalas also
offer speedier service, door-to-door service, that is, hundiwalas collect the cash from the
migrants by visiting their residences or gathering places in host countries and then deliver
the cash to the migrants’ families in the home countries. It is a two-way service*hundiwalas carry not only cash, gifts and firsthand information from migrants overseas
to their families in source communities, they also carry gifts, goods and firsthand
information from the migrants’ families to the migrants in host countries. The hundi
system is culturally compatible for both migrants and their families. In general, most of
these migrant workers and their left-behind families have limited education and are
usually unfamiliar with formal banking procedures and terminology, in addition to
conservative family traditions in Bangladesh (especially certain bari traditions), which often
encourage maintaining minimal contact with the ‘outside world’ for their women folk. A
trusted and acquainted hundiwala who is linked by strong ties is an acceptable
intermediary in such circumstances.
Conclusion
This paper has attempted to advance understanding of the social organization of
informal remittances using the example of the hundi system found among Bangladeshi
migrants in East and South-east Asia. The paper reports that, despite the presence of
formal remittance systems, the majority of migrants choose to send remittances through
informal mechanisms, particularly the hundi system. We have suggested that hundi
fundamentally relies on mutual trustworthiness and involves mutual obligations,
assurances, and understanding. The strength and contents of social ties between migrant
workers and hundiwalas are crucially important as the social basis of the hundi system.
These ties are found in the traditional form of social relationships that bind hundiwalas and
migrants and their families into a social and business web at home and abroad. Both the
migrant and the hundiwala capitalize on social and symbolic ties in the course of
migration: a migrant draws on these ties to transfer funds safely and cheaply while a
hundiwala uses them to make material (economic) and non-material (social status) gains.
From a hundiwala’s perspective, involvement in the hundi is not only economically
rewarding but also socially significant because it offers a venue to reposition oneself in the
rural social hierarchy.
We have reported that the relationship between the hundi system and
unauthorized migration is complex with few easy answers. We cannot conclude that
the hundi is merely a vehicle for funds transfer among unauthorized migrants. Although
Singapore hosts a minimal number of unauthorized foreign workers, the use of the
hundi is widespread. A survey of 126 Bangladeshi migrant workers in Singapore
conducted in 2003 revealed that 95 per cent of migrant workers remitted money
THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF HUNDI 23
Dow
nloa
ded
By:
[Rah
man
, Md
Miz
anur
] At:
05:5
3 4
Apr
il 20
08
through the hundi system while the remaining five per cent remitted using formal
channels (Rahman 2004). Despite the presence of a large number of unauthorized
migrant workers in all the other three countries, we have found that a substantial
amount of money was remitted through formal channels, especially in Japan and
Malaysia (Table 2). If we compare Japan with South Korea, the complexity will further
unfold. Japan lacks a legal framework to accommodate Bangladeshi migrants while
South Korea hires them under legal arrangements. If we consider unauthorized status as
the sole indicator for widespread use of the hundi, there should be higher proportions of
formal remittance flows from South Korea compared to Japan, but this is not the case.
These discrepancies can only be explained by a deeper understanding of the social
infrastructure on which the hundi system is based and the value of the services that it
provides to migrant workers and their families.
The increasing securitization of remittances after the 9/11 terrorist attack has
substantially affected the operation of hundi in the region. While there may be loopholes
in the informal funds transfer system, the primary question that needs to be asked is who
will gain and who will lose from the increasing ‘securitization of remittances’. Given the
recent rise in the use of official channels, it is clear that formal institutions including banks
and MTOs have benefited from the increasing formalization of remittances. From the
migrant workers’ perspective, it is obvious that they are the losers from this increasing
securitization process because they are not getting the best deal in funds transfers.
Migrant workers often sacrifice their family’s assets to be able to migrate and such risks
often lead to long-term indebtedness as they are often not able to redeem their debts
quickly. As migration is at the level of individual financial arrangements, migrant workers
deserve the right to select the most economical and convenient channel of funds transfers.
As the formal system does not provide a cheap and convenient service for these debt-
ridden low-skilled migrant workers, their right to choose a better deal for every hard-
earned dollar should be facilitated.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to thank Habibul Haque Khondker, Lian Kwen Fee, Jennifer Jarman,
Shapan Adnan, Roger Ballard (CASAS, University of Manchester), C.R. Abrar (RMMRU,
Bangladesh), Khurshed Alam (BISR, Bangladesh), and Binod Khadria (JNU, India) for their
support. The authors also thank the anonymous reviewers of Asian Population Studies for
their insightful comments on the draft version of this article. Financial support from the
Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore is noted with appreciation.
NOTES
1. The term ‘migrant remittances’ generally refers to ‘transfers in cash or kind from migrants
to resident households in the country of origin’ (Bilsborrow et al. 1997, p. 321).
2. See Hernandez-Coss 2005; Puri & Ritzema 1999; APEC 2003; El Qorchi et al. 2003; Mellyn
2003; Seddon 2004; Monsutti 2005; Sharma 2006; Ballard 2004b. For details about
relevant literature, please refer to our working paper (Rahman & Yeoh 2006).
3. However, this does not mean that individuals from cities do not migrate to this region as
unskilled workers. A small number of them do and also probably use hundi to transfer
24 MD MIZANUR RAHMAN AND BRENDA S. A. YEOH
Dow
nloa
ded
By:
[Rah
man
, Md
Miz
anur
] At:
05:5
3 4
Apr
il 20
08
their funds. Since the majority is of rural origin, we therefore look into the rural social
infrastructure to explore the hundi operation.
4. For details about Bangladeshi labour migration to East and South-east Asia, please refer
to an earlier draft of this paper, Rahman and Yeoh (2006), available online at: http://
www.populationasia.org/Publications/RP/AMCRP20.pdf
5. This cumulative figure comes from the BMET, the official body responsible for keeping
records of authorized migrant workers. However, it does not keep records for returning
migrants. Available online at: http://www.bmet.org.bd/Reports/Flow_Migration.htm
(accessed 7 May 2007).
6. See http://www.bmet.org.bd/Reports/Flow_Migration.htm (accessed 7 May 2007).
7. Information on different banks involved in remittance in Bangladesh and overseas is
compiled from the Bangladesh Bank website: www.bangladesh-bank.org (accessed 9
November 2005).
8. Information regarding Western Union and MoneyGram was compiled from their
websites; see http://www.westernunion.com and http://www.moneygram.com (accessed
18 November 2005).
9. Esthanio is a Bengali word which indicates belongingness to a particular geographic area
which may be a village, union, or local administrative units like thana or districts,
depending on the context. It involves certain responsibilities: execution of these
responsibilities brings prestige for the person concerned while denial draws the
condemnation of society.
10. Attiyo bears enormous significance in the Bangladeshi society. The word ‘Attiyo’ means
‘connected by heart’. When a Bangladeshi mentions that he is my Attiyo, it means ‘he is
part of my heart’. However, it depends on the context*villagers sometimes use it loosely
and sometimes strongly. Attiyo covers blood relatives and relatives by marriage (for
details see Bertocci 1972; Rozario 1992; Wood 1994).
REFERENCES
ABELLA, M. I. (1989) ‘Policies and practices to promote migrants remittances’, Philippine Labor
Review, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 1�17.
AGGARWAL, C. L. (1966) The Law of Hundis and Negotiable Instruments, 8th edn, Eastern Book Co,
Lucknow.
ASIA-PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION (APEC). (2003) Informal Funds Transfer Systems in the APEC
Region: Initial Findings and a Framework for Further Analysis, World Bank, Washington, DC.
ARANGO, J. (2000) ‘Explaining migration: A critical view’, International Social Science Journal, vol.
52, no. 3(165), pp. 283�295.
ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (ADB) (2006) ‘Workers’ remittance flows in Southeast Asia’, ADB, [online]
Available at: http://www.adb.org/Documents/Reports/workers-remittance/workers-
remittance.pdf (accessed 21 October 2007).
ATHUKORALA, P. C. & MANNING, C. (1999) Structural Change and International Migration in East Asia:
Adjustment to labor Scarcity, Oxford University Press, London.
BALLARD, R. (2004a) ‘System-security in Hawala Networks: the role of reciprocities of Absolute
Trust’, Centre for Applied South Asian Studies, The University of Manchester, [online]
Available at: http://www.arts.manchester.ac.uk/casas/papers/index.html (accessed on 6
June 2006).
THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF HUNDI 25
Dow
nloa
ded
By:
[Rah
man
, Md
Miz
anur
] At:
05:5
3 4
Apr
il 20
08
BALLARD, R. (2004b) ‘Delivering migrant remittances: the logistical challenge’, The Journal of
Financial Transformation, vol. 12, pp 141�153, [online] Available at: http://www.art.
man.ac.uk/CASAS/pdfpapers/capcoarticle.pdf (accessed 6 June 2006).
BALLARD, R. (2005) ‘Coalitions of reciprocity and the maintenance of financial integrity within
informal value transmission systems: the operational dynamics of contemporary hawala
networks’, Journal of Banking Regulation, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 319�352.
BERTOCCI, P. J. (1972) ‘Community structure and social rank in two villages in Bangladesh’,
Contributions to Indian Sociology, vol. VI, pp. 19�52.
BEZARD, G. (2002) ‘Global money transfers: exploring the remittance gold mine’, A Report by
Celent Communications, New York, August.
BILSBORROW, R. E., HUGO, G., OBERAI, A. S. & ZLOTNIK, H. (1997) International Migration Statistics:
Guidelines for Improving Data Collection Systems, International Labour Office, Geneva.
BOYD, M. (1989) ‘Family and personal networks in international migration: recent developments
and new agendas’, International Migration Review, vol. xxiii, no. 3, pp. 638�670.
BROWN, R. P. C. (1994) Consumption and Investments from Migrant’s Remittances in the South
Pacific, International Migration Papers, E/Migrant-2, Employment Department, Interna-
tional Labour Office, Geneva.
BUENCAMINO, L. & GORBUNOV, S. (2002) Informal Money Transfer Systems: Opportunities and
Challenges for Development Finance, ST/ESA/2002/DP/26, DESA Discussion Paper No. 26,
November 2002, United Nations, New York.
BURBIDGE, N. W. R. (2004) ‘International anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing: the
work of the office of the superintendent of financial institutions in Canada’, Journal of
Money Laundering Control, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 320�332.
CHOLDIN, H. M. (1973) ‘Kinship networks in the migration process’, International Migration Review,
vol. 7, pp. 163�176.
DE BRUYN, T. & KUDDUS, U. (2005) Dynamics of Remittance Utilization in Bangladesh, IOM Migration
Research Series, No. 18, IMO Research Unit, Geneva, pp 1� 93.
EL QORCHI, M., MAIMBO, S. M. & WILSON, J. F. (2003) Informal Funds Transfer Systems: An Analysis of the
Informal Hawala System, International Monetary Fund, Occasional Paper 222, IMF-World
Bank, Washington, DC.
FAIST, T. (1997) ‘The crucial meso-level’, in International Migration, Immobility and Development:
Multidisciplinary Perspectives, , eds T. Hammer, G. Brochmann, K. Tamas & T. Faist, Berg,
Oxford.
FAIST, T. (2000) The Volume and Dynamics of International Migration and Transnational Social
Spaces, Clarendon Press, Oxford.
FINANCIAL ACTION TASK FORCE ON MONEY LAUNDERING (FATF) (2003) Combating the Abuse of
Alternative Remittance Systems: International Best Practices, Adopted at FATF Plenary, 20
June.
GARDNER, K. (1995) Global Migrants, Local Lives: Travel and Transformation in Rural Bangladesh,
Clarendon Press, Oxford.
GURAK, D. D. & CACES, F. (1992) ‘Migration networks and the shaping of migration systems’, in
International Migration Systems: A Global Approach, , eds M. M. Kritz, L. L. Lim & H. Zlotnik,
Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 150�176.
HERNANDEZ-COSS, R. (2005) The Canada-Vietnam Remittances Corridor: Lessons from on Shifting from
Informal to Formal Transfer Systems, Working Paper No. 48, World Bank, Washington, DC.
HICKS, G. L. (ED.) (1993) Overseas Chinese Remittances from Southeast Asia 1910�1940, Select
Books, Singapore.
26 MD MIZANUR RAHMAN AND BRENDA S. A. YEOH
Dow
nloa
ded
By:
[Rah
man
, Md
Miz
anur
] At:
05:5
3 4
Apr
il 20
08
HOWLETT, C. (2002) Investigation and Control of Money Laundering via Alternative Remittances and
Underground Banking Systems, Churchill Trust, Canberra.
KUHN, R. S. (1999) The Logic of Letting Go: Family and Individual Migration From Rural Bangladesh,
Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University of Pennsylvania.
LAMBERT, L. (2002) ‘Asian underground banking scheme: a field note’, Journal of Contemporary
Criminal Justice, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 358�369.
LIAN, K. F. & RAHMAN, M. M. (2006) ‘International labor recruitment: channeling Bangladeshi
migrants to East and Southeast Asia’, Asia-Pacific Population Journal, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 85�107.
MAIMBO, S. M. & PASSAS, N. (2004) ‘The regulation and supervision of informal remittance systems’,
Small Enterprise Development, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 53�61.
MAIMBO, S. M., ADAMS, R. H., AGGARWAL, J. R. & PASSAS, N. (2005) Migrant Labor Remittances in South
Asia, World Bank, Washington, DC.
MASSEY, D. S. & ESPANA, F. G. (1987) ‘The social process of international migration’, Science, vol. 237,
pp. 733�738.
MASSEY, D. S., ARANGO, J., HUGO, G., KOUAOUCI, A., PELLEGRINO, A. & TAYLOR, J. E. (1993) ‘Theories of
international migration: a review and appraisal’, Population and Development Review, vol.
19, no. 3, (September), pp. 431�466.
MCCUSKER, R. (2005) ‘Underground banking: legitimate remittance network or money laundering
system?’, Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, No. 300, (July 2005), Australian
Institute of Criminology, Canberra.
MCPHERSON, K. (1993) The Indian Ocean: A History of the People and the Sea, Oxford University
Press, New Delhi.
MELLYN, K. (2003) Worker Remittances as a Development Tool Opportunity for the Philippines, Asia
Development Bank, Manila, Philippines.
MIGRANT REMITTANCES (2004) Migrant Remittances, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 1�8.
MONSUTTI, A. (2005) War and Migration: Social Networks and Economic Strategies of the Hazaras of
Afghanistan, Routledge, New York.
ORGANIZATION FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT (OECD) (2000) Migration and the Labor
Market in Asia, OECD, Paris.
OROZCO, M. (2002a) Challenges and Opportunities of Marketing Remittances to Cuba, Inter-
American Dialogue, Washington, DC.
OROZCO, M. (2002b) ‘Globalization and migration: the impact of family remittances in the Latin
America’, Latin American Politics and Society, Summer, pp. 41�66.
PASSAS, N. (1999) Informal Value Transfer Systems and Criminal Organizations: A Study into so-
called Underground Banking Networks, Netherlands Ministry of Justice, The Hague.
PORTES, A. (ED.) (1995) The Economic Sociology of Immigration: Essays on Networks, Ethnicity and
Entrepreneurship, Russell Sage Foundation, New York.
PURI, S & RITZEMA, T. (1999) Migrant Worker Remittances, Micro-finance and the Informal Economy:
Prospects and Issues, Working Paper No. 21, Social Finance Unit, International Labour
Office, Geneva.
RAHMAN, M. M. (2004) ‘Migrant networks: an analysis of Bangladeshi migration to Singapore’,
Asian Profile, vol. 32, no. 4, pp. 367�391.
RAHMAN, M. M. & LIAN, K. F. (2005) ‘Bangladeshi migrant workers in Singapore: the view from
inside’, ‘Asia-Pacific Population Journal’, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 63�88.
THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF HUNDI 27
Dow
nloa
ded
By:
[Rah
man
, Md
Miz
anur
] At:
05:5
3 4
Apr
il 20
08
RAHMAN, M. M. & YEOH, B. S. A. (2006) The Social Organization of Remittances: Channeling
Remittances from East and Southeast Asia to Bangladesh, Series No. 20, Asian MetaCentre,
NUS, Singapore.
RATHA, D. (2003) ‘Workers’ remittances*an important and stable source of external develop-
ment finance’, in Global Development Finance, World Bank, Washington, DC, chapter 7.
RATHA, D. & KETHAR, S. (2004) Development Financing During a Crisis: Securitization of Future
Receivables, World Bank Working Paper Series No. 2582, World Bank, Washington, DC.
ROZARIO, S. (1992) Purity and Communal Boundaries, Allen & Unwin, Oxford.
SANDER, C. (2003) Migrant Remittances to Developing Countries: A Scoping Study Overview and
Introduction to Issues for Pro-poor Financial Services, Prepared for the UK Department of
International Development (DFID), Bannock Consulting, London.
SANDHU, K. S. & MANI, A. (EDS) (1993) Indian Communities in Southeast Asia, ISEAS and Times
Academic Press, Singapore.
SEDDON, D. (2004) ‘South Asian remittances: implications for development’, Contemporary South
Asia, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 403�420.
SHARMA, D. (2006) ‘Historical traces of hundi, sociocultural understanding, and criminal abuses of
hawala’, International Criminal Justice Review, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 99�121.
SIDDIQUI, T. & ABRAR, C. R. (2001) Migrant Worker Remittances and Micro-finance in Bangladesh,
International Labour Organization, Dhaka/Geneva.
SIDDIQUI, T. & ABRAR, C. R. (2003) Migrant Worker Remittances and Micro-finance in Bangladesh,
Working Paper No. 38, Social Finance Program, International Labour Organization,
Geneva, pp. 1�111.
THIEME, S. (2003) Savings and Credit Associations and Remittances: The Case of Far West Nepalese
Labour Migrants in Delhi, India, Working Paper No. 39, Social Finance Programme,
International Labour Office, Geneva.
UDOVITCH, A. (1970) Partnership and Profit in Medieval Islam, Princeton University Press, Princeton,
NJ.
ULLAH, A. A. & PANDAY, P. K. (2007) ‘Remitting money to Bangladesh: what do migrants prefer?’
Research Note, Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 121�136.
VADEAN, F. (2007) Skills and remittances: the case of Afghan, Egyptian and Serbian immigrants in
Germany, HWWI Research Paper 3-9, Migration Research Group, Hamburg.
VAN DOORN, J. (2002/4) ‘Migration, remittances and development’, in Migrant Workers, Labour
Education, 2002/4, No. 129, International Labour Office, Geneva.
WATANABE, S. (1998) ‘The economic crisis and migrant workers in Japan’, Asian and Pacific
Migration Journal, vol. 7, nos. 2�3, pp. 235�254.
WILLARD, H. M. III (1997) Of Qinging, Qinshu, Guanxi and Shetou: the dynamic elements of Chinese
irregular population movement, in Human Smuggling: Chinese Migrant Trafficking and the
Challenge to America’s Immigration Tradition, ed. P. J. Smith, The Center for Strategic and
International Studies, Washington, DC.
WOOD, G. D. (1994) Bangladesh: Whose Ideas, Whose Interests?, University Press Limited, Dhaka.
WORLD BANK (2002) ‘Financing development through future-flow securitization’, Prem Notes,
Economic Policy, June.
WORLD BANK (2006) Global Economic Prospects: Economic Implications of Remittances and
Migration, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank, Wa-
shington, DC.
WU, C.-H. (1967) Dollars, Dependents and Dogma: Overseas Chinese Remittances to Communist
China, Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, Stanford, CA.
28 MD MIZANUR RAHMAN AND BRENDA S. A. YEOH
Dow
nloa
ded
By:
[Rah
man
, Md
Miz
anur
] At:
05:5
3 4
Apr
il 20
08
YADONG, L. (2000) Guanxi and Business, World Scientific, Singapore.
YANG, M. (1994) Gifts, Favors and Banquets: The Art of Social Relationships in China, Cornell
University Press, New York.
YING, L. S. & WALKER, A. (2006) Explaining Guanxi: The Chinese Business Network, Routledge, London.
Md Mizanur Rahman (author to whom correspondence should be addressed),
Department of Sociology, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117570. Tel:
65-65167337; E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
Brenda S. A. Yeoh, Professor, Department of Geography, National University of Singapore,
Singapore 117570. Tel: 65-65165281; E-mail: [email protected]
THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF HUNDI 29