Every day, there is a huge crowd of family members and relatives who go to bid farewell and welcome at the departure hall of international flights at Tribhuvan Airport. Some relatives suffer from separation pain when they have to send them across seven seas for employment or study. On the other hand, relatives look happy when they return home with happiness, meaning, experience and skills.

Social networks and media show a large crowd by mixing these two scenes of the airport. And everyone gathered at the airport is depicted as preparing to fly abroad. Are all those gathered there going to fly abroad on the same day? Do such a large crowd go on foreign trips every day? Did all those who went abroad on a jet plane never return? no

I asked the security personnel there about the daily gathering at the airport, 'How many people come to say goodbye to one person?' He could not say the exact number. But he said that 1 to 7 people come to say goodbye to one Sardar. According to him, the crowd at the airport has become denser as passengers wish to bid farewell to the airport by calling as many relatives as possible. According to the same security personnel, at least 1 to 5 people come to welcome the passengers returning from abroad. In this way, at least 100 to 700 relatives would participate to say goodbye to 100 people flying abroad.

At least 100 to 500 relatives would arrive at the airport to pick up 100 relatives coming from abroad. This has led to massive congestion at the airport. The village did not go abroad, some young people went abroad. They did not go abroad, some citizens just walked to return. Only a small number went abroad without returning. This is not a major concern. People from all over the world continue to go to country/abroad in search of opportunities, a large number of people from other countries also come to Nepal. 

After the Sugauli Treaty of 1816, Nepali youths started going for foreign employment after being recruited in the then East India Company. Indian towns along the border became known as centers for selling labor to the Nepalese. Especially in Sikkim, Darjeeling, which is bordered with eastern Nepal, a large number of Nepalese have come for employment. Nepalese even reached Burma to live there. According to the Indian census of 1971, there are 1.3 million Nepalis born in Nepal in India. Now that number is estimated to have increased to 40/50 lakhs.

The trend of people moving to other countries and abroad is going on all over the world due to the desire of various advanced life such as employment, education, health. The modern generation, which defines the world as a small village, does not find it strange to move from one country to another. People naturally gravitate to countries where laws are easy, employment opportunities and higher salaries are available. That is why people are attracted to rich countries including America. 

The number of Nepali citizens abroad is not certain. Some time ago, in a program related to international migration, Labor Employment and Social Security Minister Sharatsingh Bhandari presented the data that about 7 million Nepalis are outside the country. What is the number of Nepalis returning from abroad? Official data is not updated by our system. 

The Foreign Employment Department and the Foreign Employment Board, which update the data of Nepalis who go abroad, do not return. They only add up the number of Nepalis passing through immigration. Returning Nepalis do not decrease. That makes us feel like we are lost in the country. If these bodies show the number of returnees, the comment that the country is empty would be easily broken. 

The development of the world is due to migration from one country to another. It is not yet unheard of for any country to become bankrupt due to international migration. Therefore, the country does not suffer from the migration from Nepal to foreign countries. A large part of the migration from Nepal to foreign countries is for employment. This is called temporary migration.

A record is kept of those who travel abroad with passports and visas. But a larger number of people from Madhesh, Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces go to Indian cities to work. They return after a certain time. Although there is not much talk about the international migration from Madhesh province to India, looking at the number of people going to India from the Rupaidia checkpoint in Nepalgunj and Gaddachouki on the western border, it seems that many families are living because of the international migration. 

In the absence of employment arrangements, our youth are forced to migrate for employment. But they did not go to live in the destination country. They return after a few months, years. According to the National Census 2078, 21 lakh 90 thousand Nepalis have gone abroad to return home. They are not included in the total population of 29.1 million 64 thousand 578. The number of Nepalis who went abroad to return is about 7.4 percent of the total population. In the previous decade, as many as 1.9 million Nepalis were abroad. 

What would have happened to Nepal in the midst of a demographic dividend without international migration? Let's think once. The country's economy runs on the remittances sent by young people who have temporarily migrated to work in the Middle East and India. A quarter of the country's gross domestic product has been cultivated by these migrants. 

In 2023, around 15 billion remittances entered Nepal. It seems that remittances of 1 trillion 44 billion 20 million rupees have been received in the last month of October. This economy has benefited the country through individuals, families and society. The onset of the Maoist conflict and the labor agreement with the Gulf countries coincided almost simultaneously. Because of this, a large number of young people who are or are likely to be affected by the war between the Maoists and the government were attracted to foreign migration. 

When the Maoist conflict reached its peak, the country's economy was devastated. At that time, the youths who migrated temporarily sent remittances of about 7 trillion rupees annually, which boosted the economy of Nepal. Due to these temporary migrations, transactions have been made in cash in the villages. Rural economy is flourishing. Our local production has not been able to support the economy. It is only subsistence oriented. Therefore, not only the negative but also the positive side of migration should be seen. 

Why do Chinese people go to America? Why do Australians choose America or why do Americans want to go to Europe? Why are Chinese traders walking in the villages of Nepal to sell goods? Wherever market expansion starts in Nepal, why do Indians go there to open salons and pick up old goods? The reason for that is the economy that runs in those villages or small markets. Those who are looking for the possibility to put part of that economy in their Polta are wandering in search of new places. 

As their skills and abilities are valued more in Nepali villages than in China and India, temporary migrations from big and developed countries come to find markets in countries like Nepal. An example of this is the presence of Indian youth in most motor garages in Nepal. From these examples, it can be said that not only from Nepal, but also in Nepal, temporary migrants have come. Therefore, Nepal has not been spared by international migration. 

Those who left the village worry about the village, those who left the country seem to worry more about the country. This is true for positivity. Now the concern seems to be more about those who leave the country than those who leave the village. Because only a small number of those who left the country left the country permanently, but those who left the village left permanently.

43 percent of the country's local levels have a negative population growth rate. What this shows is that Nepal's population is gradually becoming centralized. Although federalism will decentralize power and resources, citizens have not felt that way. Rather, the population is also becoming centralized by realizing that facilities, power and resources are being centralized. 

In the 1970s, Korea was on the verge of prosperity. At that time, migration scenes like the ones seen now in Nepal were seen. People started leaving the villages and coming to the cities in large numbers. The village could not provide the facilities of the city. So people migrated to cities including the capital in search of a better lifestyle. The cities of Korea gave a grand welcome to all the people who came from the countryside. Internal migration was used by those cities as a labor supply. Big industries were opened targeting them. 

Migrants from the village were used as migrant workers. Rural fields vacated by migration to the cities were used extensively by Korea as agricultural farms. In a short time, Korea began to produce and export large quantities of grain. Instead, farming itself became an industry and started importing workers from abroad. As a continuation of that, even now, Nepalis are going to Korea as agricultural workers. 

According to the data of the Immigration Department, 24 lakh 57 thousand 485 people entered Nepal from different countries (including Nepali) in 2019, while 25 lakh 25 thousand 900 people went abroad for different purposes. What this shows is that not only the number of people leaving Nepal but also the number of people coming in is significant. That is why it can be said that the country is not empty. In the year 2024, 16 lakh 74 thousand 225 Nepalese have flown abroad. Out of that, 66 thousand 835 i.e. about 3 percent of the total people who went abroad were seen to go for permanent residence. The number of returnees from abroad was not provided by the Immigration Department. Most of those who went abroad went for employment. According to the data of the department, 8 lakh 6 thousand 422 people have gone for employment. They return home with money and skills for a few years.