Nepal's Umbilical Cord (A nepalnews.com Column)
By Nischal M. S. Basnyat

Migration for work is nothing new to Nepal. Although Nepal was a late entry in taking advantage of Middle Eastern labour demands, Nepal's first famous expat-migrant was the Gorkhali hero Bal Bhadra Kunwar, who left Nepal to join the army of the Punjabi Sikh King Ranjit Singh in 1816. During the two world wars, over 300,000 Nepali men fought for the British, suffering over 45,000 casualties. Thousands of Nepalis fled to work in India during the injustice of the 104 year Rana regime, while the Gurkhas stationed overseas in Hong Kong and Singapore made up for 40 percent of all Nepalis working abroad.

Migrant workers and other Nepalis working abroad have kept this country alive through the last few decades of economic depression, political instability and domestic uncertainty. Today, labor is Nepal's greatest export and even the most rural household depends on at least one member's earning away from home. Despite having a poor industrial base and although agricultural production is lagging in such an agrarian economy like ours, remittance from abroad has kept commercial banks in Nepal not only operating but profiting. From the revenue made by sophisticated hotels and restaurants in Kathmandu to the increase in vehicle sales, most of Nepal's economic survival owes debt to the foreign currency brought in by Nepalis residing away from home. The Nepali economy in 2004/05 earned over USD 922 million in remittances from overseas workers, accounting for 12.4 percent of national GDP. However, as most remittance is channelled through informal conduits, Nepal's actual benefit from remittance will easily top USD 1.2 billion per year. The remittance economy of Nepal is more significant and imperative than foreign aid, domestic businesses and tourism. Despite Nepal's economic growth rate decreasing from 8% to less than 3% in the span of only six years, the inflowing cash from Nepalis abroad has kept the country breathing.

More significant, however, is the nature of the remittance economy in Nepal. In a country where only Kathmandu and a few other cities have seen any development, this inflowing money from remittance is spreading throughout the nation, providing significantly greater security against a potential economic crisis and acting as a great equalizer in an otherwise inequitable economy. The 1.6 million Nepalis working oversees, 950,000 in India alone, is feeding the rest back home. And unlike the development work by the government of Nepal, because these large numbers of Nepalis are from areas beyond just Kathmandu , Nepal has been surviving without any government incentives for rural regions, without which the nation would have collapsed almost a decade ago.

Nevertheless, Nepal's government has always turned an ignorant eye towards this vital lifeline for the country. The blood, sweet and tears of Nepalis abroad is the only reason why Nepal is still standing. In a country where Ministers seem to be more interested in photo opportunities with foreigners and communists seem to be more concerned with ideology instead of pragmatically solving the problems of the poor, the government is taking the toilsome work of Nepalis abroad for granted. Nepal must quickly recognize the sheer importance of remittance and deal rapidly with matters concerning the survival and prosperity of this gift of foreign currency to the homeland.

First, in our agrarian economy which still depends on agriculture, there is a lack of able-bodied men due to the rapid increase in this migrant-worker trend. There are not enough young men across the country to maintain the agricultural economy of Nepal and this has left the women, the elderly and children to fend for themselves. The tremendous impact of this mass scale movement and its unfortunate significance for the social structure of rural Nepal has to be addressed by the government. There will be a regrettable imbalance in the labor force of Nepal if the government doesn't offer any incentive to guarantee jobs for the young men in rural Nepal.

Second, Nepal has to ensure that our poor citizens aren't just blindly shipped to countries with grotesque workers rights and filthy living conditions, which force many to retire early or cause sickness, depression and death. There must be a government organization established for the wellbeing and betterment of these hardworking Nepalis. A government ministry or agency can be established to efficiently handle the problems of the hundreds of thousands of Nepalis that have sacrificed their soil to put food on the table for their families and for the country. There must be stringent legislation in place to counter the burgeoning Manpower Agencies that pry on the naivety and weakness of Nepali workers. An agency must deal with the injustices put upon these poor migrant workers by the cunning Manpower Agencies, which are making a killing by ruining the lives of our poor citizens to make nominal profits, a form of human trafficking in itself.

The unsung heroes of Nepal are not the King, the politicians, the Maoists or the civil "intellectuals"; they are the poor young men and women who have painfully sacrificed their homeland and endured grotesque work conditions to ensure that our nation is still standing. It is time for Nepal to acknowledge this element that has kept the economy afloat, pay homage to those sacrificing and earning for the nation and to make sure our "infantile" democracy doesn't tie a knot with its own feeding tube.

Third, more than 5 percent of migrant workers are women. The government of Nepal, which only seems to entertain itself with politics, has done nothing for the injustices forced upon Nepali women abroad. There have been a plethora of rape cases on poor Nepali migrant women and numerous cases where women have been denied help from our government. No one is listening to the cries of these women trapped in foreign countries that are often blackmailed and coerced to do work for free in return for not being imprisoned by their own agents and employers. Without political clout in Nepal or contacts in higher offices, these women have nothing more than tragic stories of injustice and receive nothing more than ignorance from their own country.

Fourth, there needs to be a monumental foreign policy overhaul to favour these individuals working on behalf of the country. Embassies need to be embedded in countries like South Korea and Australia along with other gulf nations. Too often, the hardworking Nepalis that are new to foreign soil are left without guidance and have no one to go to when they have questions regarding their wellbeing or when they have suffered injustice from the hands of their employers or agents. The aim of Foreign Ministry should not only be the representation of Nepal in regions across the globe, but also to ensure that Embassies act as caretakers for our citizens living and working in these areas.

Fifth, bilateral agreements between Nepal and countries like Saudi Arabia, which depends on the work of 60,000 Nepalis for its own economy, should be instigated.. The economies of nations like Malaysia, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, UAE, Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are benefiting enormously from the low cost work provided by Nepalis. Unfortunately, these are the same countries with which we have almost no diplomatic relations, besides a strictly formality-based one. Some form of foreign aid for Nepal in return for providing cheap labor or even a simple agreement promising the caretaking of Nepalis working in these countries would greatly benefit Nepal.

Sixth, there needs to be an NRN (Non Residential Nepali) representation in the new government. It is unjust that in a country where most of our capable, hardworking and also educated are living and working abroad, that they should have no say in the inner matters of the country. In fact, because they are away from all the daily political chaos in Nepal, those residing abroad can actually make a sound judgement on many important long-term concerns for the country. Engaging the NRN community will greatly assist the country, making those Nepalis residing abroad feel like they also are responsible towards the homeland, as they are the only ones that actually have the monetary capability of helping the country.

Finally, there needs to be epic renovation and initiation of domestic reconstruction of the job market if Nepal intends to avoid becoming another El Salvador; a nation that depends solely on remittance to run the country. How can Nepal refer to itself as a sovereign and independent nation when it is held together by foreign aid and all our bills are paid by Nepalis living abroad? The failure to create and implement a coherent overall development strategy mobilizing all of Nepal's resources, including effective education, training, and manpower planning for human resource development, has led to low rates of growth and high levels of unemployment and underemployment in what remains a largely subsistence agriculture, handicraft, and service-based economy. The implications of this situation are far-reaching for Nepal as a whole, for the structure and dynamics of regional and local economy and society, and, perhaps most of all, for households and individuals all over the country, both those directly involved in foreign labor migration and those left behind. Nepal's economy cannot survive too long if it simply chooses to be dependent on its remittance economy. The government of Nepal must first acknowledge why Nepal has survived through economic hardship and then find a way for remittance to simply assist the country, not for it to be the sole means of survival.

The remittance coming from the hardworking Nepalis abroad, who have forfeited their family and friends back home to undergo menial and servile conditions, has only been recognized by the government as a deterrent of domestic unemployment, but has never received credit for being a great source of national income. It is the work of those outside the country that has provided a safety net for the Nepali economy and has healed the social and political wounds that come with economic disintegration. Nepal seems full of know-it-all "intellectuals" that look down on the uneducated and unprivileged. The unsung heroes of Nepal are not the King, the politicians, the Maoists or the civil "intellectuals"; they are the poor young men and women who have painfully sacrificed their homeland and endured grotesque work conditions to ensure that our nation is still standing. Without them, no Maoist would have a nation to fight for, no Nepali "intellectual" would have a sovereign state to talk of and no politician would have a country left to play politics with. It is time for Nepal to acknowledge this element that has kept the economy afloat, pay homage to those sacrificing and earning for the nation and to make sure our "infantile" democracy doesn't tie a knot with its own feeding tube.

(Currently studying in La Sorbonne (Paris), Basnyat is a student at Harvard University. A senior editor for the Harvard South Asian Journal, his writing can be found in 'India Doctrine' a book written with eminent author MBI Munshi. He can be reached at nbasnyat@fas.harvard.edu)

(Editor’s Note: Nepalis, wherever they live, as well as friends of Nepal around the globe are requested to contribute their views/opinions/recollections etc. on issues concerning present day Nepal to the Guest Column of Nepalnews. Length of the article should not be more than 1,000 words and may be edited for the purpose of clarity and space. Relevant photos as well as photo of the author may also be sent along with the article. Please send your write-ups to editors@mos.com.np)