There are statistics that 500,000 new laborers enter the domestic labor market every year in Nepal. They are wandering around in search of decent employment. Not everyone can get a job with the minimum salary of 19,550 rupees, including social security. Foreign employment, which is seen as an alternative, is now facing a crisis.

The most accessible foreign labor markets for Nepalis are the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia. The number of people going to this region is about 80 percent of the country's total foreign employment. Employment opportunities in Europe, which is seen as a new destination, are very low. The main reason for the foreign employment crisis for Nepali workers is the new policies adopted by the major foreign employment destination countries rather than domestic ones. 

Malaysia 

Malaysia is considered an attractive destination country for unskilled workers. Malaysia provides equal wages and service facilities to migrant workers as its citizens, and has also ensured social security. It sets the minimum wage every two years. Malaysia has currently raised the minimum wage to 1,700 ringgit. Which is almost double the salary paid to foreign workers in Gulf countries for unskilled workers. 

Known for its climate and comfortable workplace, Malaysia used to take around 100,000 foreign workers every year in its labor market. After the Covid pandemic, Malaysia took in a maximum of 210,000 foreign workers for employment in 2022 alone. Malaysia has determined the work sector on a country-by-country basis. In which Nepalis are taken to the production and security guard sectors. However, even in this sector, Malaysia seems to have only partially opened employment since June 2024. Last year, only 10,219 people went. 

Malaysia has now reduced the quota for foreign workers from 15 percent of the total labor market to 10 percent. In order to strengthen the practice of decent labor migration, Malaysia has set 10 criteria to select the 'appropriate number' of manpower companies in its source countries. It has requested its five major source countries, including Nepal, to send a list of manpower companies that meet the criteria by 29 Kartik. Malaysia has given a clear diplomatic message, saying that it will not work with manpower companies that do not meet the standards. 

The Nepal Foreign Employment Entrepreneurs Association has opposed this, saying that Malaysia is trying to monopolize the labor recruitment process through its new standards. The association has also drawn the attention of the government for not agreeing on the standards. Earlier, due to a dispute over Malaysian mechanisms (medical examination, visa center, and security check) in Nepal, recruitment of foreign workers for Malaysia was closed for 17 months. These mechanisms were opened only after they were included in the labor agreement. Now, doubts have arisen again about employment in Malaysia. 

Jeevan Baniya, deputy director of the ‘Center for the Study of Labor and Mobility’, which studies labor migration, believes that the Nepalese government needs to intervene through diplomatic means to prevent the Malaysian labor market from disappearing. ‘Malaysian products and goods have been banned in America and Europe for using forced labor to produce goods. This has affected everything from its production to its supply. But it seems that Malaysia has brought the latest standards for its own benefit, while the recruitment costs of Nepali workers going to Malaysia are high,' said Baniya, 'This certainly does not meet the standards of all manpower companies. It is time to renew the labor agreement. Nepal should find a solution through diplomatic dialogue. This market should not be allowed to disappear.' 

Prime Minister Sushila Karki has instructed Labor Secretary Krishnahari Pushkar to study the possible impact of the new standards set by the Malaysian government for foreign employment entrepreneurs and do homework for necessary initiatives. 

UAE

The UAE was the country that provided the most employment in the last two years. According to the data of the Department of Foreign Employment, 500,000 Nepali workers went to various countries for foreign employment with new labor permits in the last fiscal year. Out of which, 200,000 were employed by the UAE. The number of people going to the UAE for labor also seemed to be the highest in the last Shrawan and Bhadra.

Looking at the statistics of last Bhadra alone, 45,000 Nepali workers went to various countries for employment, and 20,000 Nepalis went to the UAE for labor. This is the number of people going outside the visit visa. But after the protests on 23 and 24 Bhadra, the UAE closed both employment visas and visit visas. Nepal has not yet received an official response. There is no decision on how long this ban will last. 

According to Ekendra Thapa, who has been doing business in the UAE for two decades, the UAE is a destination country for Nepalis who earn a monthly salary of 800 to 80,000 dirhams. The UAE is an attractive employment destination not only for Nepalese but also for those who have reached the US via Australia and Europe and pursued higher education. The UAE has been becoming an important destination country for Nepali women in recent years. It has also become an easy destination where you can apply for a visa in the morning and fly out in the evening. 'The majority of Nepalis work in the service sector here. Nepalis are found at all levels of management,' Thapa said, 'When Nepalis were getting high priority, the visa was suddenly closed. There is a reason for this. Our social behavior is also involved.' After such an important employment destination was closed, everyone's question is 'When will it open?' But Nepal's diplomatic answer is, 'We are trying.'

Saudi Arabia

Another major destination, Saudi Arabia, also has a majority of Nepali workers in the construction sector. But Saudi Arabia, which is planning to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, is accelerating the construction of the necessary physical infrastructure for it. For which, although the possibility of foreign employment in Saudi Arabia has increased, the number of Nepali workers does not seem to have increased significantly. Saudi Arabia has always been a stable labor market for Nepal. 80,000 to 100,000 people are getting jobs annually. In the last fiscal year, 77,000 Nepali workers reached Saudi Arabia. The number of Nepali female workers here has not increased significantly. 

Saudi Arabia has been taking the most workers from Pakistan and Bangladesh. Saudi Arabia is also tightening its visa policy for Nepalis after the Gen-G movement. The Saudi embassy in Kathmandu is only accepting passports for 25 people per week from each manpower company. Saudi Arabia is placing more emphasis on skilled workers. The skilled workers they are looking for are being produced in low numbers by the Nepali labor market. 

Qatar 

Qatar has been a major destination for Nepali workers for the past decade. From 2010 to 2021, an average of 100,000 Nepalis were going to Qatar every year. As Qatar is preparing for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Nepalis were the majority of the foreign workers it brought in to build stadiums, roads, hotels and other related projects. Qatar's economy, which is mainly based on petrol and gas, has been further boosted by infrastructure construction. When the FIFA World Cup ended, workers started returning to their countries. New large-scale projects also started to be built less frequently. 

Currently, the proportion of workers in Qatar's total population has decreased. Qatar, which used to take in up to 30,000 foreign workers a month, has now reduced it to two to three thousand. ‘The foreign labor market in Qatar is not as vibrant as before. Older workers are more visible than new ones. The service sector is providing ample employment,’ said Shakir Ali of Dhanusha, who is in Qatar. ‘It seems that Qatar is resting after the World Cup. Until a large-scale project comes here, there will be no such excitement as before.’

European labor market is not easy 

Nepali workers do not have easy access to Europe, which is seen as an alternative to the Gulf countries for labor employment. The cost is high. It takes at least 7 to 8 months to get employment, which is also problematic. They are not allowed to go to Europe through manpower companies. It has been two years since the embassy stopped verifying the demand letter. Last year, there is data that only 35,000 Nepalis went to Europe through personal efforts. Due to the high cost and low savings, the European labor market is not being as fruitful as expected for Nepalis. 

Apart from this, the number of Nepali workers in Kuwait seems to have increased slightly compared to the past. However, since Kuwait has only allocated a certain quota, the number of Nepali workers does not seem to have increased according to the demand of the labor market here. Similarly, Oman and Bahrain only take in two thousand workers a year. Which is a very small labor market. 

Will there be a crisis in the economy? 

According to the latest data from Nepal Rastra Bank, Nepal had received remittances worth about 12 billion US dollars in the last fiscal year alone. This seems to be playing a decisive role in improving the country's balance of payments, strengthening the foreign exchange reserves and maintaining the government's financial stability.

According to labor expert Ganesh Gurung, who is also a former member of the National Planning Commission, foreign employment is working as the main option to reduce domestic unemployment. 'Especially the economic dependence of rural youth is based on income from abroad. Nepalis who work abroad return after learning new skills, technology and work culture. This is contributing to human capital development for the country in the long run,’ Gurung said, ‘Foreign employment is inevitable unless there is an alternative for employment in Nepal.’