Retracing Their Steps: The Onward Migration of Italian-Bangladeshi Families to the UK and Their Return to Italy

According to the Bangladeshi embassy in Italy, in 2015, there were approximately 6,000 Italian households of Bangladeshi origin (approximately 25,000 persons) who left the Italian peninsula and moved to London. (Della Puppa and King, 2019) The Italian National Institute of Statistics reports that, in 2016 alone, among the 29,000 Italians with a non-European country background who left Italy, over 2,500 were of Bangladeshi origin and that 92% of Italians of Asian origin moved to the UK (Istat 2016). In the context of migration studies, a growing body of literature has dealt with this phenomenon, which can be defined in terms of “onward migration” (Ahrens et al., 2016; Della Puppa et al. 2021; Haandrikman and Hassanen, 2014; Kelly, 2013; King and Della Puppa, 2020; King and Newbold, 2007; King and Karamoschou, 2019; Mas Giralt, 2017; McIlwaine and Bunge, 2019; Ramos, 2018; Stewart, 2012; van Liempt, 2011), that is, for example, migrants originating from non-EU countries, who, once they have acquired EU citizenship in one EU country, move to another (Della Puppa et al. 2021; Della Puppa and Sredanovic, 2017). This has been analysed for different nationalities of migrants in Europe (Ahrens et al., 2016; Della Puppa et al. 2021; Haandrikman and Hassanen, 2014; Kelly, 2013; King and Newbold, 2007; King and Karamoschou, 2019; Mas Giralt, 2017; McIlwaine and Bunge, 2019; Ramos, 2018; Stewart, 2012; van Liempt, 2011) and many contributions have been produced on the specific case of the intense onward migration of Italian-Bangladeshi to the UK (Della Puppa, 2021; Della Puppa and King, 2019; King and Della Puppa, 2020; Morad and Sacchetto, 2020). Thus, many dimensions of this specific “new migration” have been analysed: the reasons behind it, its modalities, the gap between expectations and real conditions of social and work integration in the British context (Ibidem), the role of emotions and the gender gap in expectations towards this new mobility (Della Puppa, 2019), and even the coping strategies for the Brexit scenario (Sredanovic and Della Puppa, 2020). However, little or nothing has been written about those who decided to give up their new migration and life project in the UK, retraced their steps and returned permanently to Italy, although it is a growing phenomenon. Therefore, this contribution will focus precisely on the Italian-Bangladeshi families who, after having relocated from Italy to the UK, have returned to Italy. Specifically, it will investigate the reasons for return migration and its modalities. The chapter is based on two multi-site qualitative pieces of research, carried out in both poles of onward migration. Empirical data consist of 76 in-depth interviews conducted between 2015 and 2019. Specifically, 35 Bangladeshis with Italian citizenship who were planning to move to the UK were interviewed in Vicenza, Venice, Bologna, and Padova. The remaining 41 interviews were conducted in London, Bradford, and Birmingham with Italian-Bangladeshis who had already relocated to the UK. The respondents report their frustration because of the social downgrading and professional deskilling suffered during their relocation to the UK; the burden of job insecurity and the excessive flexibility of work shifts which resulted in antisocial hours, a reduction in the possibilities of socializing and time to spend with friends and family outside of work, and a general deterioration in the quality of life; the higher cost of living in the UK for a lower salary, compared to Italy; the dependence on welfare, which they had to rely on to face the high cost of living in the UK, and the consequent biopolitical and social control by the State; their disillusionment with the housing conditions they had access to in England compared to those left in Italy; their children’s dissatisfaction with the new national and life context.