PALLAV BHUSAL

The number of youths going abroad in search of better employment opportunities continued to increase this fiscal year, with 45,937 Nepalis leaving the country in the first month of fiscal 2013-14. The number of youths leaving the country between mid-July and mid-August marked a rise of 40.66 per cent from 32,657 recorded in the first month of last fiscal.

The number of youths leaving the country went up sharply this year as major labour destinations like Qatar, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) absorbed more Nepali workers, the latest data released by the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) show. 

Of the total number of Nepalis leaving the country this fiscal, almost 23.5 per cent, or 10,785, left for Qatar, marking a hike of almost 81 per cent year-on-year. “The main reason for this rapid increment in workers leaving for Qatar is mass construction of infrastructure-related projects focusing the 2022 FIFA World Cup,” DoFE spokesperson Diwas Acharya said.

Despite this, Malaysia continued to remain the most favoured labour destination for Nepali workers, with the southeast Asian country absorbing 16,612 Nepalis in the period, which is 19 per cent more than in the same period last fiscal.

Other countries like Saudi Arabia received 8,752 Nepalis in the one-month period, up from 7,935 recorded in the same period last fiscal, while the United Arab Emirates saw the entry of 5,691 Nepalis during the people, as against 3,049 recorded in the same period last fiscal. Among others, Kuwait received 1,856 Nepali workers in the first month of this fiscal year, which was over 150 per cent than in the same period last fiscal year, while 382 Nepalis left for South Korea in the one-month period, up from 11 in the same period last fiscal year.

“Most of the workers leaving the country hail from rural areas, who hope to get better salaries aboard to support their families,” Acharya said, stressing the need to create better employment opportunities in Nepal so that the country does not have to face labour shortage as seen in sectors like agriculture.

More than 450,000 people went abroad last fiscal year seeking job opportunities.

Published on: 3 September 2013 | The Himalayan Times