Large-scale migration from Bangladesh to India has been ongoing since the partitioning of Bengal in 1947. Reasons for this migration, such as the political instability fostered by the Bangladesh liberation war in 1971, are well documented. What have not been studied are the push-pull factors that influenced migration in recent years, especially since 2000. Using qualitative methods, especially in-depth interviews, the author of this paper used open-ended questions to glean respondents’ views on various issues relating to the impact and motivating factors in irregular migration. Key informants included political leaders, administrators, physicians and demographers. The push-pull dichotomy was further delineated by subcategories. Push factors were discussed in terms of economics and demographics as well as social, political and law and order dimensions. Economic pull factors were discussed as a single category; however, an umbrella category was created to focus on demographic, social and geographic factors. A unique category, not found in the “push” analysis, was political and religious influences in migration. Each category, in both the push and pull dimensions, was analysed further, with percentages regarding the importance and reasons why a given category was consequential in understanding the issue of migration. A brief list of possible policy implications is also presented.
