Increasingly, during the latter part of the 1990s, Nepalis began to migrate to the Gulf countries for work, particularly to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, and Qatar. Within a short period, the number of manpower agencies operating in Kathmandu to recruit and send Nepalis to the Middle East had soared, as had the number of Nepalis migrating. The government's only contribution to this massive movement to the Gulf was to establish a consulate in Qatar to supplement the existing embassy in Saudi Arabia.
By August 2001, 87 percent of officially registered migrant workers (those recruited by recognized manpower agencies) were headed for the Gulf. An analysis of Nepali migrant workers in 2002 — by the Nepal Institute for Development Studies for UNIFEM, the women's fund at the United Nations — revealed that two-thirds of Nepalis working overseas were employed in the Gulf, mainly in Saudi Arabia (42 percent), Qatar (11.5 percent), and the UAE (nine percent). The total was estimated at 465,000 — 10 times more than in 1997.
In 1997, the value of remittances from the Gulf countries was estimated at 1.5 billion NRs, approximately US$25 million. Other things being equal, remittances, like the number of Nepali workers in the Gulf, may have increased tenfold between 1997 and 2002, although no reliable figures are available.
Conclusion
In the last five years, the importance of foreign labor migration to the Nepalese economy has increased as numbers of Nepalis leaving to find work abroad have soared. The total volume and value of remittances from Nepali workers abroad has increased significantly; remittances are possibly as high as 100 billion NRs (over US$1.5 billion).
Migration continues partly because of growing insecurity in Nepal's rural areas as the Maoist insurgency has come to control large parts of the countryside. In addition, Nepalis must confront a lack of economic opportunities at home and increasing opportunities abroad.
Indeed, there has been much talk in Nepal recently of "internal displacement" and "forced migration" as a result of the conflict. Certainly, some of the better-off Nepalis in rural areas have been displaced. But it is difficult to distinguish those seeking to avoid the conflict from the bulk of economic migrants because the rural areas are so impoverished and because there has been little research on internal migration.
The failure to create and implement a coherent overall development strategy mobilizing all of Nepal's resources — including effective education, training, and manpower planning for human resource development — has led to low rates of growth and high levels of unemployment and underemployment in what remains a largely subsistence agriculture, handicraft, and service-based economy, with around 40 percent of the population below the poverty line. Hence, the massive upsurge in migration from rural areas to cities and other countries.
The implications of this situation are far-reaching for Nepal as a whole, for the structure and dynamics of regional and local economy and society, and — perhaps most of all — for households and individuals all over the country, both those directly involved in foreign labor migration and those left behind.
David Seddon is Professor of Development Studies at the University of East Anglia. Although his major regional specialization is North Africa and the Middle East, he has also worked in Asia, including Nepal, where for many years he has been involved, as a researcher and consultant, with rural development issues, including those associated with migration.
Sources:
The Nepal Institute for Development Studies (2003). "Nepali Women Workers in Foreign Lands: a study conducted for UNIFEM." Kathmandu, July.
Seddon, David, Jagannath Adhikari and Ganesh Gurung (2000). "Foreign labor migration and the remittance economy of Nepal: A Report to DFID, Kathmandu." Overseas Development Group, University of East Anglia, Norwich.
Seddon, David, Jagannath Adhikari and Ganesh Gurung (2001). "The New Lahures: foreign employment and the remittance economy of Nepal." The Nepal Institute of Development Studies, Kathmandu.
By August 2001, 87 percent of officially registered migrant workers (those recruited by recognized manpower agencies) were headed for the Gulf. An analysis of Nepali migrant workers in 2002 — by the Nepal Institute for Development Studies for UNIFEM, the women's fund at the United Nations — revealed that two-thirds of Nepalis working overseas were employed in the Gulf, mainly in Saudi Arabia (42 percent), Qatar (11.5 percent), and the UAE (nine percent). The total was estimated at 465,000 — 10 times more than in 1997.
In 1997, the value of remittances from the Gulf countries was estimated at 1.5 billion NRs, approximately US$25 million. Other things being equal, remittances, like the number of Nepali workers in the Gulf, may have increased tenfold between 1997 and 2002, although no reliable figures are available.
Conclusion
In the last five years, the importance of foreign labor migration to the Nepalese economy has increased as numbers of Nepalis leaving to find work abroad have soared. The total volume and value of remittances from Nepali workers abroad has increased significantly; remittances are possibly as high as 100 billion NRs (over US$1.5 billion).
Migration continues partly because of growing insecurity in Nepal's rural areas as the Maoist insurgency has come to control large parts of the countryside. In addition, Nepalis must confront a lack of economic opportunities at home and increasing opportunities abroad.
Indeed, there has been much talk in Nepal recently of "internal displacement" and "forced migration" as a result of the conflict. Certainly, some of the better-off Nepalis in rural areas have been displaced. But it is difficult to distinguish those seeking to avoid the conflict from the bulk of economic migrants because the rural areas are so impoverished and because there has been little research on internal migration.
The failure to create and implement a coherent overall development strategy mobilizing all of Nepal's resources — including effective education, training, and manpower planning for human resource development — has led to low rates of growth and high levels of unemployment and underemployment in what remains a largely subsistence agriculture, handicraft, and service-based economy, with around 40 percent of the population below the poverty line. Hence, the massive upsurge in migration from rural areas to cities and other countries.
The implications of this situation are far-reaching for Nepal as a whole, for the structure and dynamics of regional and local economy and society, and — perhaps most of all — for households and individuals all over the country, both those directly involved in foreign labor migration and those left behind.
David Seddon is Professor of Development Studies at the University of East Anglia. Although his major regional specialization is North Africa and the Middle East, he has also worked in Asia, including Nepal, where for many years he has been involved, as a researcher and consultant, with rural development issues, including those associated with migration.
Sources:
The Nepal Institute for Development Studies (2003). "Nepali Women Workers in Foreign Lands: a study conducted for UNIFEM." Kathmandu, July.
Seddon, David, Jagannath Adhikari and Ganesh Gurung (2000). "Foreign labor migration and the remittance economy of Nepal: A Report to DFID, Kathmandu." Overseas Development Group, University of East Anglia, Norwich.
Seddon, David, Jagannath Adhikari and Ganesh Gurung (2001). "The New Lahures: foreign employment and the remittance economy of Nepal." The Nepal Institute of Development Studies, Kathmandu.
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