Mani Ram Rai doesn't think he will be going back to Fukushima anytime soon

When Mani Ram Rai left Nepal two years ago in search of a better life in Japan, he never imagined what he would have to go through in a country he thought was the safest and most prosperous country in the world.

The triple diaster- earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown that hit Japan on 11 March killed at least 25,000 and displaced hundreds of thousands of people. Maniram lived in Fukushima and fled to Tokyo with six of his friends. Initially, he was happy to have survived the quake, tsunami and radioactive leak, as living became difficult and expensive in Tokyo. Maniram decided to head back home, Although he will return to Japan to complete his studies. "Life is hard in Nepal, but at least it is home," he says.
DAMBAR KRISHNA SHRESTHA
On the other side of the world at the same time, Dwar Chand Rai of Khotang and Netra Thakuri of Kavre (pictured, right) were fleeing a different kind of disaster: the unrest that led to war in Libya. It is a story of hardships, struggle and survival while traveling out of Libya's Darna province to Egypt. Netra and Dwar Chand were among hundreds of Nepali migrant workers rescued from Libya by our embassy in Egypt. They have decided not to go back to Libya.

Dwar Chand recalls the fearful nights he spent while waiting uncertainly for the relief transport that he wasn't sure would come. He dreamt of his family in Khotang and longed to see them again. After witnessing bloodshed in Libya, both Rai and Thakuri are thankful that at least their own country is not at war. Nearly 1,000 Nepali migrant workers go abroad, mainly to India, the Gulf, Malaysia and further afield in search of income. The remittance they send back has sustained Nepal's economy. But the reports of exploitation, abuse and deaths of migrant workers in foreign countries has exposed the ugly side of this business. With growing unrest, uncertainty and recession abroad, many Nepalis feel it is better to make a modest and honest living in Nepal than to risk being cheated or mistreated in a foreign land.

"We will work hard in our own country now," says Thakuri, "there is no place like home."

Published on:22-28 April 2011 | Nepali Times