What happens to a family's social protection when its members live in different countries?
The CASTLE 2 Opening Research Report examines this question in relation to labour migration from Bangladesh to Greece and Romania and the transnational families it creates. The report was prepared by the CASTLE Centre at Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, together with the Terre des hommes organisations in Romania, Bangladesh and Greece, and is funded by the European Union, contracted by ICMPD through Migration Partnership Facility.
The study combines a review of the literature, policy analysis and stakeholder mapping, a comparison of labour migration cooperation agreements, and a preliminary qualitative component. The latter includes 43 interviews in Bengali, Romanian, Greek and English, with the contribution of 27 co-researchers from transnational families.
The report shows that vulnerability begins before departure, through debt-financed recruitment and multi-level intermediation. In destination countries, the main constraint is not the absence of rights but their conditionality: the right of residence depends on a single employer, and family reunification remains difficult for low-wage workers. The interviews show how wide the gap is between existing rights and effective access to them. Informal networks, fellow nationals, employers, churches and community organisations often provide the protection that formal institutions do not.
The practical priorities identified include bilateral social security agreements, information in Bengali, consular presence, decoupling the right of residence from the relationship with a single employer, and funding integration services beyond individual project cycles.
The findings are interim, as data collection is ongoing. The final report will be published in 2027.
The report (in English) and the summary (in English and Romanian) are attached.
To cite, you may use: Telegdi-Csetri, Á., Birou, M., & Roșca, D. (Eds.) (2026). CASTLE2 Opening Research Report. Cluj-Napoca: CASTLE Centre, Babeș-Bolyai University. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22689158
