Every day there is a long queue outside the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) in Tinkune as hundreds of workers wait to obtain their final permission letter. According to the department, around 1,500 Nepalis fly out of Kathmandu to India, the Gulf, South Korea, Malaysia, US, and Europe in search of work. But this data does not account for the thousands who leave without authorisation.
Thirty-year-old Sita Tamang from Rasuwa is at Tinkune with her her husband who returned from Saudi Arabia after working there for more than two years and is planning to go back. She says: “He is going so far away, I will miss him and worry about what he is doing. When he is out of the country friends and relatives also look down upon me.”
Aladin Adab, 21, came home to Mahottari after three grueling years in Saudi Arabia. But newlywed Adab is in a hurry to leave because he wants to repay the loans he took for his home and wedding. “I told my wife I will come back in four years and call her regularly, but she is not happy, neither are my family members. But I have no other option,” he admits.
Last year alone, 400,000 workers left the country (not counting India) and the number continues to swell. Women make up about three per cent of the total number of those opting for foreign employment. Nepali citizens are allowed to work in 109 countries around the world. And while India receives a huge number of migrant workers, data is largely missing. But what is not in doubt is the role played by remittances in propping up the country’s economy.
“There are different reasons why Nepalis seek employment outside the country. Some are tempted by the lifestyles of their friends and families who live abroad while others are ashamed to work in Nepal. There are also those who feel like that they are not fully utilising their skills by working here. Another group has a hard time finding jobs in the country and then there are women with difficult family lives who want to escape,” explains Binod KC, head of DoFE.
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