The border authorities of Azerbaijan over the past few weeks have arrested at least 40 Nepali nationals who were reportedly headed for the United States of America.

Nepali Ambassador to Russia Milan Tuladhar told the Post over the phone from Moscow that at least 30 Nepali nationals headed for the US through illegal routes were recently arrested by Azerbaijani authorities.

The news comes amid unconfirmed reports that the Russian military and private military contractors have been recruiting Nepali nationals as mercenaries to fight in Ukraine.

Ten more US-bound Nepalis are already in Azerbaijani detention, according to an Azerbaijan-based news agency.

The Trend News Agency, a private news outlet in Azerbaijan, said that Azerbaijani authorities on May 6 had locked up many people including 10 Nepali nationals on the charge of violating the border laws of Azerbaijan.

“Some 10 Nepalese citizens who tried to violate the state border of the Republic of Azerbaijan on May 6, at 21:59 (GMT+4) in the direction of Georgia were detained in the service territory of the Shamkir border detachment of the border troops of the State Border Service (SBS) of Azerbaijan,” said the news agency. Azerbaijani citizens Khalid Nadirli and Tural Aghayev, who were the guides of the Nepalis, were detained as well.

Most of Nepali nationals who visit Eastern European countries are either planning to sneak into the US, or enter rich and developed European countries in search of jobs and better life prospects, said officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Earlier in April, Azerbaijan detained 41 people for violating the state border, 22 of whom were Azerbaijani nationals, 10 Nepalis, one Iranian, one Pakistani, two Tajiks, and five Sri Lankans, according to the Azerbaijani news agency.

They were detained while trying to cross the state border with fake passports, visas and stamps and one person was apprehended while trying to cross the border by bypassing the checkpoint, said the news agency.

Those arrested in April will be released in August after paying a fine of $4,000 each, said ambassador Tuladhar. As per the Azerbaijani law, a person arrested for illegally entering the country is subjected to three months in detention and a fine of $4000.

“In the past one month alone, at least 30 Nepali nationals have been arrested by the Azerbaijani authorities for overstaying their visas. They came to Baku [Azerbaijan’s capital] via the Middle East, lured by racketeers who promised to send them to the US. We have heard that each of them paid the racketeers at least Rs1 million to sneak into the US via Azerbaijan,” said Tuladhar.

The Nepali Embassy in Moscow is trying to contact the Nepalis to provide them travel documents once they are freed after completing the detention period and paying the fines.

“We are trying to reach out to the detainees via translators so that we can get more details about them. Of late, we see that Nepali people are getting into various legal troubles in some East European countries. Some four months back, a Nepali national died in Belarus from extreme cold. It took us several weeks to collect the body and repatriate it. Similarly, with the help of the International Organization for Migration, we repatriated a Nepali national from Kazakhstan, recently,” said Tuladhar.

The Nepali Embassy in Moscow is also trying to contact Azerbaijani authorities to secure an early release of the Nepalis.

Three Nepali nationals who were arrested by Azerbaijani authorities in May are set to be released in July, said Tuladhar. “Once they are freed, we will provide them travel documents to fly back to Nepal.”

Their rescue would have been relatively easier had there been an organization of non-resident Nepalis in Azerbaijan, said Tuladhar.

Meanwhile, social media posts from Russia suggest that Nepalis are being recruited by the Russian military and private military contractors as mercenaries to fight in Ukraine. These foreign recruits are reportedly promised good pay, perks and Russian citizenship.

Amid such reports, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already instructed its mission in Moscow to verify the information circulating on social media and report back.

Speaking in Parliament, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said that the government is closely following the matter and gathering additional information.

Rajendra Bajgain of the Nepali Congress and Achyut Mainali of the CPN-UML had asked the prime minister about the alleged recruitment of Nepali nationals in the Russian army.

“Our attention has been drawn to the issue,” the prime minister said.

Published on: 26 June 2023 | The Kathmandu Post