‘It’s like a dream’: joy and trepidation as Bangladesh’s migrant workers stunned by Hasina exit

Scattered across Southeast Asia, Bangladesh’s migrant workforce on Tuesday hailed the abrupt end of the Sheikh Hasina era, after 15 years which saw economic growth pour money into the pockets of tycoons yet exclude millions of the poorest who have been forced to seek work overseas.

But they remained watchful over the tricky days ahead, aware of the potential for more violence back at home, after bloody weeks which have claimed the lives of hundreds of their countrymen.

The 76-year-old Hasina fled in a helicopter on Monday as protests engulfed her government by student demonstrators, who started out calling for the end of a job quota system, but turned their demands directly on Hasina to step down for unleashing security forces on their initially peaceful rallies.

Migrant workers have been glued to their smartphones as scenes unfolded of Hasina’s residence being ransacked by protesters and hundreds of thousands flooded the streets of Dhaka in celebration at the demise of a leader who exerted an iron grip over the country.

“I wish I was there to witness it. I have been on my phone with my friends and family back home. I never thought this would happen,” Bilal Hasan, 25, who sells tea at a food market in Kuala Lumpur, told This Week in Asia.

Hasina, who came to power in 2009 and won four elections – the last uncontested in January, has been credited with lifting millions from poverty with an enviable growth rate of nearly 8 per cent before the pandemic, with a textiles industry at the centre of global supply chains, major infrastructure projects and poverty alleviation schemes tracking the nation of 170 million towards middle-income status.

Yet progress has been uneven, rewarding business allies of Hasina and her Awami League,