KIRAN PANDAY PAINFULLY EMPLOYED: Youths queue up for army recruitment, Korean language tests, and passports in the capital

Most people are so engrossed in the day-to-day that they hardly notice the lines clogging up the pavements of the capital. Unless they are in them themselves. Add up the queues for army recruitment, Korean language tests, passports, and the airport, however, and you get a composite picture of the desperation Nepali youth face when it comes to making a living. For every man or woman who hopes to get into the army, police or the APF, there are thousands more who see no way out but to get out.

And there are plenty who take advantage of the most disadvantaged members of our society. It goes all the way from the brokers who step up to the line and promise to facilitate whatever it is you are looking for to the politicians who brazenly pocket the life savings of those less fortunate than them. The most depressing aspect of this is how some Nepalis abroad are doing the same. The recent case of 108 Nepalis rescued from Libya is not simply about cruel, exploitative foreign employers and states; it illustrates how Nepalis are fleecing Nepalis, home and abroad.

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