CESLAM Kathmandu Migration Conference 2026
16–17 February 2026
Download schedule
(All times are in Nepal time)
Those interested in taking part in the conference are requested to register HERE.
| Day 1 16 February 2026 (Monday) 10:00 am–4:20 pm |
| 10:00–10:05 am Welcome Remarks Sambriddhi Kharel, Sociologist and Independent Researcher |
| Panel 1 Cross-Border Mobilities in the Past and Present 10:05–11:45 am Chair Ambika Rai, Assistant Professor, Sikkim Manipal University, India |
| From Tibet to Terai: Seasonal Migration of Bhotiya Communities through Long Distance Medicinal Plant Trade in Northeast Nepal Arjun Chapagain, Innovative Research and Studies Center, Nepal Jun Wang, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong |
| Building the Queen of Hills: Nepali Labourer in Colonial Darjeeling, Their Invisiblization and Reassertion Arunita Sanyal, PhD Scholar, Jadavpur University, India |
| Medical Mobility across Empire: Medical-Based Migration between Nepal and British Ceylon (Sri Lanka), c. 1850-1947 U.N.K. Rathnayake, PhD Scholar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India |
| Break: 11:45 am –12:30 pm |
| Panel 2 Precarity and Health 12:30–2:10 pm Chair Sadikshya Bhattarai, PhD Scholar, Aarhus University, Denmark |
| Marginalised Labour and Reproductive Health: Unpacking Sexual and Reproductive Health Inequities among Transnational Female Migrant Bharias in Darjeeling Hills, India Ambika Rai, Assistant Professor, Sikkim Manipal University, India |
| Gendered Precarity and Agency: A Sociological Study of Nepali Women Migrants in GCC Countries Nusrat Azeema, Sita Chaudhary and Anmol Dhimal,Hohai University, China |
| Between Open Borders and Precarious Work: Labor Mobility in India–Nepal Migration Khushi Titoria, PhD Scholar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India |
| Break: 2:10–2:40 pm |
| Panel 3 Remittances and Household Economy 2:40–4:20 pm Chair Arjun Kharel, Research Fellow, CESLAM |
| How Remittances Reallocate Resources: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Nepal Aayushma Manandhar, University of Oxford, UK |
| International Labour Migration, Remittance and Its Use in Health Care Expenditures in Selected Municipalities of Koshi Province Susmita Nepal, Assistant Professor, Om Health Campus, Nepal |
| Examining the Livelihood Outcomes of Foreign Labour Migrants’ Households in Pokhara, Nepal, Using DFID Sustainable Livelihood Framework Yuba Raj Tripathi, Assistant Professor, Pokhara University, Nepal |
| Day 2 17 February 2026 (Tuesday) 10:00 am–2:40 pm |
| Panel 1 Drivers and Aspirations 10:00 am–12:00 pm Chair Arpita Giri Singh, Assistant Professor, Gurugram University, India |
| Across Hills and Borders: How Migration Reshapes Work, Aspirations and Rural Life in Nepal and Assam Biswajyoty Roy, PhD Scholar, Mangalayatan University, India |
| Migration as Adaptation or Distress? A Qualitative Study of Climate Impacts in Nepal’s Hilly and Terai Regions Dipin Subedi, Centre for Social Change, Nepal |
| Internal Migration, Informal Settlements and Construction Safety Challenges in Kathmandu Nusrat Azeema, Sita Chaudhary and Anmol Dhimal, Hohai University, China Muhammad Akbar, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (IWHR), China |
| Indian Migration to Nepal: Pattern, Drivers and Socio-Economic Implication under an Open Border Regime Rekha Rani and Swati Mehta, Research Scholar, Guru Nanak Dev University, India |
| Break: 12:00–1:00 pm |
| Panel 2 Conceptual Exploration 1:00–2:40 pm Chair Sanjay Sharma, Postdoctoral Fellow, Aarhus University, Denmark |
| Of Borders, Borderlands, and Bordering: Reading Nepali School Textbooks Along the Indo-Nepal Borderland Kritika Chhetri, PhD Scholar, South Asian University, India |
| The Play of ‘Duality’ in the Conceptual ‘Homeland’: An Analysis of the Feeling of Disenchantment and Disorientation Upon Homecoming Ujina Rana, PhD Scholar |
| Labour in Motion, Capital in Command: A Marxian Reading of Nepal’s Migrant Labour Regime Suchismita Ghoshal, Independent Researcher, India |
| Closing Remarks: 02:40 pm |
