Even by Nepal’s grim standards, one of the most heartrending sights is that of home-bound menial workers, returning after months if not years, being fleeced at the border. The prospect of returning home is one that migrant workers, often long suffering in low-paying jobs that involve backbreaking labour, look forward to eagerly.

The Dashain holidays are when thousands of migrant workers return home bearing gifts and meagre, hard-earned wages. The least they are entitled to is safe passage across the India-Nepal border so that their humble dreams, be it a goat for Dashain or a pair of new trousers for the son, are realised. These dreams come crashing down at the border, often days away from home, when they are robbed, fleeced and swindled out of what little cash and belongings they carry.

The recent news reports of returning Nepalis being robbed en route in India or border officials and Indian and Nepali police extorting money from them remind that there are millions of youth who have no alternative but to leave their families to seek employment in foreign countries.

These youth, who come from the poorest strata of society, are compelled to take up the lowest paying jobs in India, often as gatekeepers, waiters and domestic servants. Whatever their identity in Nepal, in India, they all have a common derogatory epithet—Bahadur. Whatever money they make, they try to save to bring back to their families. Neither their work nor their journey home is free from harassment, intimidation and outright theft. Thieves are crafty these days and employ a wide variety of measures. One common method is to trick the workers into drinking spiked beverages.

On Wednesday, Khim Bahadur Oli and Kamal Oli of Banke district were returning home on a bus belonging to the Bharatiya Paribahan Nigam. The thieves ‘took them into confidence’ and gave them spiked drinks in Sajjanpur, after which they proceeded to rob the unconscious workers: Khim lost IRS 12,000 and two mobile phones and Kamal lost IRS 7,000 and one mobile phone. In the morning, the rest of the Nepali passengers, feeling sorry for the duo, raised enough money to allow them to reach their homes. No doubt, there are countless such stories, given the massive flow of workers.

According to the police, about 1,000 workers are crossing the border into Nepal from the Rupadiyah border in Nepalgunj alone. Thieves are not the only problems. Many workers have complained that the border police and customs officials, on both sides, not only trample on their dignity with rude behaviour but also extort money. Workers complain of even rickshaw drivers in border districts charging them outrageous prices for rides.

These migrants, only looking forward to a hardearned holiday and some time with their families, often end up returning home empty-handed, looted of their wages and robbed of their dignity. What a homecoming. They surely deserve better.

Robbery and extortion is a poor homecoming for migrant workers.

Published on: 19 October 2012 |The Kathmandu Post