UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) report titled, ‘Sending Money Home: Contributing to the SDGs, One Family at a Time’ noted that remittances accounted for 32 percent of Nepal’s GDP during the period. The figure has nearly doubled from the 2007 level, where it was 17 percent.

Reliance on remittances, as measured by percentage of GDP, is highest in Nepal (32 percent), followed by Tajikistan (29 percent) and the Kyrgyz Republic (26 percent),” said the report.

According to the report, Nepal saw an overall remittance growth rate of 262.0 percent receiving a total sum of USD 6,276 million in remittances in the 10-year period.

Referring to preferred destinations, the report noted India as the most preferred destination for Nepali migrants.

Developing Nations Received the Most

According to the report, the amount of money migrants send to their families in developing countries has increased by 51 percent over the past decade, far greater than the 28 percent rise in migration from these countries.

While the report highlighted increase in sending patterns to almost all regions of the world, the sharp rise over the past decade is majorly because of Asia, which has witnessed an 87 percent increase in remittances.

“More than 200 million migrant workers are now supporting an estimated 800 million family members globally. It is projected that in 2017, one-in-seven people in the world will be involved in either sending or receiving more than USD 450 billion in remittances,” said the report.

According to UN, the migrant flows and increase in remittances sent by migrants to their homes will largely impact the global economic and political landscape.

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The report titled, ‘A Study on Causes of Women’s Migration to Foreign Employment and Ways to Reintegrating them into the National Labor Market’, was prepared by the researchers of Social Science Baha, with support from the UN Women.

According to the report, 55 percent of women migrated to improve their household economic conditions, while 24 percent moved to ensure better future for their children and 22 percent to overcome debt issues.

Family conflicts, stigma of being single, and easy availability of brokers who promised foreign job opportunities are among other reasons that forced Nepali women to leave the country, says the report.

Migrants Face Tough Time

The research says that there is no significant difference between returnees and non-migrants, in terms of working situation.

Migrant women workers witnessed long working hours, denial of leaves, and confiscation of passports. 32 percent of the surveyed women suffered verbal abuse, followed by physical abuse (8.9 percent), and sexual abuse (less than 2 percent).

While 34 percent of the returnees are working in the labor market, including casual work, self-employed or commercial jobs, 31 percent are willing to re-migrate.

Women, More Than Men, Desired to Migrate

According to the Ministry of Labor and Employment, the number of women who sought labor permits for working in foreign locations rose by 106 percent during 2010-15, while the men proportion increased only 39 percent.

“Those who returned had brought back caretaking skills than professional skills. We have to offer them additional skills and entrepreneurship trainings to bring them back to labor market in the country,” said the Ministry of Industry spokesperson, Purushottam.

This report is an outcome of the survey conducted among 1,210 women in 22 field sites of Jhapa, Sindhupalchok, Nawalparasi, Kaski and Kailali districts, including non-migrants and those returned from foreign employment.

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For many Nepalese aspiring to live the American dream, education is a limiting factor. Nepal’s low literacy rate makes it difficult for many immigrants from the country to find proper employment. Sometimes even well-educated Nepalese, who left good jobs at home to come to the US, find that their degrees and work experience from Nepal are not recognized. There are many instances of professionals, who earlier worked as teachers and engineers in Nepal, having to take up jobs as cab drivers in the US.

Cultural and language differences create a barrier for the Nepalese community in integrating with the local population. Nepalese parents find it especially difficult to raise their children in the new environment. They fear that their traditional methods of parenting, which sometimes includes corporal punishment, may be construed as domestic violence and lead to their deportation. Kids on the other hand are often subjected to bullying and discrimination in schools.

Finding safe and affordable housing is another problem for immigrants with low-paying jobs. Most of the Nepalese students in the US have to struggle for financing their tuition and expenses by working long hours at odd jobs in grocery stores, gas pumps and restaurants.

Undocumented workers in particular are very vulnerable to exploitation and do not have access to basic services such as health insurance. They also live under the constant fear of being deported.

There are also concerns regarding the policies of the present United States government towards immigration and their impact on Nepal. Even though the US has been one of Nepal’s major development partners for over half a century and accommodates a large number of immigrants from Nepal each year, Nepalese are worried about the possible modifications to the US Diversity Visa lottery program under the Trump regime.

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