In Bangladesh, Sylhet is a place where you will probably find at least one person from every family staying abroad and earning his living. And probably there is a reason behind it. Every time you say to someone that you are from Sylhet the next thing you hear is ' You must be from England'.

I heard from my father that people from Sylhet started to seek their fortune in the UK since long as the soil of Sylhet remains under water for some part of the year and therefore it is quite difficult to earn your living through old pursuits in such adverse condition. As a result people started to travel abroad. So it has become a trend to go to the UK to earn a living. People did manage to earn a lot of money and build assets and make their fortune without being much educated, which literally hampered the education system in some areas of Sylhet tremendously.

These days law is changing frequently and you do not get the same facilities in the UK as you were used to getting. The recent law does not allow any child born in the UK the right of having a British passport unless either of the parents is British. If you are British through your parents and you have a child born in Bangladesh, he/she cannot have the right to have British passport. Under the rule you can transfer your right only to one generation and the British immigration law calls it British citizenship by descent.

Under another rule if you go to the UK with British student or visit visa and get married with a British citizen it does not give you the authority to have a British citizenship right away. You have to wait a lot (approximately 5 years). First you will get a settlement visa and then it continues to other formalities.

On the other hand, life is very tough in the UK and a respected employment is a far cry unless you are very qualified. If you are not very qualified or skilled you end up your life working day in day out in some odd jobs which you may define as barely surviving. There are some teachers as well as lecturers who were so desperate to go to the UK are now working in restaurants as waiters (with due respect to all). I have some relatives who made this blunder and now it is too late to come back and make a name here again.

The reason of this write up is to create awareness among those who intend to make a fortune in the UK, being a Sylhetti I have seen how my relatives ruined their lives. They did manage to go to the UK and did manage to earn a British passport but alas! They do not have a good family or personal life. They cannot converse with their own children, cannot support them in their schoolwork. The children (born in the UK) find it very difficult to cope up with their parents which lead to forced marriages, confinement and so on. Parents tend to bring their children back in the country and try to make them Bangladeshi and force them to act according to the parents which the UK law doesn't support as a result they become rebellious and with the support of the law they become separated from their parents.

There are some people so afraid of the UK lifestyle that they prefer to raise their children in Bangladesh and there were some I have seen who find it difficult to speak English. These days the hoteliers in the UK find it very difficult to transfer the business to their next generation; because they are quite reluctant to be in the shoes of their parents. They want to educate themselves and find a better profession, which is very important for them. A large number of people are sending their children to colleges because they know the pain of being illiterate.

For the people who are trying to go abroad without preparing themselves for the relentless future I have a little advice. I would like to tell them that I still believe our country still has a lot to offer. Look around, educate yourself and there will be lot of options waiting for you. Don't haste because that might lead to destruction. Because your predecessors have rectified their mistakes and things were not that difficult even couple of years back. Your single mistake can make your next generation suffer. Life abroad is very difficult now. Educate yourself. Without education you don't have any second option. There is no harm in making your fortune abroad but you must be careful that you don't end up doing odd jobs and make sure you have sufficient education, which can be a life saviour.

Badal Hasib is a lecturer in English and French languages and also works in a Commonwealth office.