Nepal Now: On the move
We're talking with the people migrating from, to, and within this Himalayan country located between China and India. You'll hear from a wide range of Nepali men and women who have chosen to leave the country for better work or education opportunities. Their stories will help you understand what drives people — in Nepal and worldwide — to mortgage their property or borrow huge sums of money to go abroad, often leaving their loved ones behind.
Despite many predictions, migration from Nepal has not slowed in recent years, except briefly during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. About 1 million Nepalis leave every year to work at jobs outside the country. Tens of thousands go abroad to study. Far fewer return to Nepal to settle. The money ('remittances') that workers send home to their families accounts for 25% of the country's GDP, but migration impacts Nepal in many other ways. We'll be learning from migrants, experts and others about the many cultural, social, economic and political impacts of migration.
Your host is Marty Logan, a Canadian journalist who has lived in Nepal's capital Kathmandu off and on since 2005. Marty started the show in 2020 as Nepal Now.
Nepal Now: On the move
Women migrant workers from Nepal: Lift the ban and get positive
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Today we’re taking a step back from the personal stories we’ve been hearing to get some perspective on migration and Nepal. Specifically, we’re talking about women who leave the country to work, including why a ban on them migrating as domestic workers is not a good idea. We’ll also hear – and this is the idea that jolted my brain during the interview – why we need to share positive news about women’s migration.
My guest today, in the Himal Media studio in Patan Dhoka, is Sadikshya Bhattarai, Research Coordinator at the Centre for the Study of Labour and Mobility, aka CESLAM, at Social Science Baha here in Kathmandu. During our chat, Sadikshya does a great job of sketching the history of women migrating for work until today. She then details how the ban on women working as domestics in Gulf countries has evolved, and why it should end. But this isn’t a single-focus discussion—Sadikshya also notes the many initiatives that the three levels of government and their partners have taken to try and improve the system, but concludes that they’re just not working as intended.
Resources
Centre for the Study of Labour and Mobility (CESLAM)
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Music by audionautix.com.
Thank you to Himal Media in Patan Dhoka for the use of their studio.
