Every day, over 2,000 Nepali youths leave the country in search of better prospects for employment and education abroad. In the last month alone, over 70,000 youths left the country. The majority of Nepalis choose to work, study and settle on foreign soils out of compulsion. The dearth of jobs, insufficient pay, economic hardships and lack of quality education have driven them into the alien lands. The story of Nepali migrant workers is far from a cause for rejoicing. Of course, they are the unsung heroes whose remittances have kept our economy floating. But their tears, blood and hardships impel us to think over the relevance of out-migration. Its social costs have overshadowed the economic achievements. Every day, around four bodies of Nepali migrant workers arrive at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. According to the official data, about 1,500 Nepali migrant workers die annually, a fact that lays bare the failure of our development model and political system we never tire of appreciating.
Nepalis have to work in difficult, dirty and dangerous conditions. The poor safety measures, workplace accidents and excessive temperatures result in the deaths of many Nepali workers. A lot of others also succumb to sudden cardiac arrest. The Nepal government has to spend a considerable amount of money and time to bring their bodies back home. The challenges also lie in managing the bodies of those who have gone abroad through illegal channels. Hundreds of Nepalis have been stranded in foreign lands – some are in jails, some in hospitals and some others have died but their bodies are yet to be brought to the country.
The other day, Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal highlighted this matter in the parliament and said that the government is preparing some legal basis to bring back the bodies of those lying in the morgues of foreign hospitals. He was responding to a query of lawmaker Ashika Tamang. She demanded that the body of Santosh Rai, a local of Jugedi in Dhunibesi Municipality of Dhading district, be repatriated from a hospital in Cambodia at the earliest. Rai died while undergoing treatment at Calmette Hospital in Cambodia on 14 May 2026. The Nepali Embassy in Bangkok had informed that approximately US$1,000 would be required to bring Rai’s body back to Nepal, including outstanding medical and mortuary charges and airfare. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs faces financial constraints for the rescue, relief and repatriation of Nepalis stranded abroad. To pool resources, it has prepared the ‘Procedure for Administering the Budget Allocated for the Rescue, Relief and Repatriation of Nepali Citizens Stranded Abroad, 2083’ and is awaiting approval from the Ministry of Finance (MoF).
The government has allocated Rs. 150 million in the current Fiscal Year 2026/27 for the rescue, relief and repatriation of Nepali citizens stranded abroad. As this amount is insufficient for the purpose, the Foreign Ministry sought additional budgetary arrangements. The procedure proposes a maximum expenditure of Rs. 1.2 million per person to repatriate a stranded citizen’s dead body, according to a news report of this daily. The government can bring the body of Rai only after the Finance Ministry approves this procedure and sanctions the budget. Unsatisfied with the answer of Minister Khanal, lawmaker Tamang walked out of the House meeting, disobeying the instruction of the Speaker. This is indeed an unusual scenario. It is the duty of the state to repatriate the bodies of Nepalis who travelled abroad either through irregular or regular channels. The lengthy legal process must not hamper and delay this task.
