"My Migrant Soul", a video documentary by Yasmine Kabir, is about Shahjahan Babu, a young migrant worker from Bangladesh, who left for Malaysia in search of work. Having sold his only piece of property and virtually mortgaging his life - the young man arrives in the host country to experience only disillusionment, misery and frustration. The film ends with tragic consequences for the protagonist of the film.

The documentary uses the story of one person to illustrate that of countless others who have suffered in the hands of those who have stood to gain profit by bartering their lives. The film highlights the plight of the migrant workers in these times.

Interviews with Babu’s family recount his attempts to go abroad, his desires, goals etc. The family also talks about it’s own parallel struggle for survival.

Prior to his death, Babu sent home audiotapes to his family, in which he recounted his bitter experiences in Malaysia. These tapes are used as a running narrative throughout the film. Songs, recorded in Babu’s own voice, are woven into the film - thus lending a poetic and poignant structure to the tragedy of Babu’s life.The camera is the medium through which Babu tells us his story posthumously.

With the advent of globalization, the export of cheap labor to more prosperous countries has spawned a market for possible exploitation and brutalization of the unemployed youth of the third world who are desperate for any income-producing activity. Bangladesh is one of the largest exporters of unskilled and semi-skilled labor force to other expanding economies. Manpower export not only provides some relief to the large body of unemployed youth, the remittances from those, who find jobs abroad constitute the second highest source of foreign exchange income for the country - rivaling that of the garment industries. Yet as a work force, they are virtually ignored by the government, and the public is relatively unaware of costs involved in terms of human sacrifice.

"In a marketplace, like fish and vegetables...humans are being bought and sold", said Shahjahan Babu, before his death.

"My Migrant Soul" is a story of modern-day slavery.