By Indra Adhikari
Escaping conflict at home has not always helped some Nepalis live in peace. In their search for employment, many Nepalis have landed in conflict zones. The gruesome murder of 12 Nepali migrant workers in Iraq few years earlier is still fresh in our memory. Lebanon is one of the conflict zones where hundreds of Nepalis have been working under constant fear, not to mention the hardships in their workplaces.
Difficulties of Nepalis there have grown since the Israeli attack last year. As the country continues be convulsed by internal strife and external aggression, living and working in Lebanon is becoming more and more dangerous.
According to Dipendra Upreti, a Nepali working in Lebanon, who is in Kathmandu to attend the 3rd Gobal Conference of Non-resident Nepalis, Nepalis there have had to undergo horrific experiences in war-ravaged Lebanon.
Three types of Nepalis are found in this country: soldiers of Nepal Army serving under the UN peace mission, Nepalis staying legally and those having no legal documents.
Upreti blames the Nepal government for not giving serious attention to the difficulties facing the Nepalis in Lebanon. Even as the Nepali consulate has authorised him to work as 'consulate representative' to help the Nepalis there he admits that he has not been able to do anything worthwhile. "It's mainly because I'm the only person who has to listen to the grievances of the Nepalis living there. There is no other place where they can go with their problems," explains he.
Taking this matter in consideration, the Nepal government should empower and upgrade the diplomatic mission in Lebanon, he says.
Last year, after Israel launched attack on Lebanon accusing the country of providing shelter to Palestine militants, Nepal government had announced ban on migration to this mid-eastern country. However, Bikash Gurung of NRN Lebanon says that illegal migration has not stopped. According to NRN Lebanon, out of estimated of 5,000 Nepalis, less than five percent have legal documents to live and work in Lebanon.
The foreign ministry has never sent details of the Nepalis migrating to Lebanon to the Nepali consulate in Beirut, thus making it difficult to assess what each and every Nepali is doing there.
There is still a high demand of migrant workers in urban parts of Lebanon, and Nepalis make the majority of foreigners who take risk to land in this country for employment. Most South Asian countries have banned travel to Lebanon.
Majority of Nepalis here are women. Upreti says there are only around 150 males and this is because the Lebanese prefer women as housemaids.
According to Upreti, the life of Nepali women working as domestic help is extremely sorrowful. They work without contract or any contact with fellow Nepalis; they are restricted from communicating with the consulate; and are not allowed to travel outside of the house. At the end they either get deported or face legal action by the immigration authorities.
Unable to bear the life within the four walls in an alien nation, many women undergo terrible mental breakdown. Over 90 persons facing such difficulties have been sent back to Nepal at the initiation of the consulate last year alone.
All these workers reach Lebanon via India -- without knowledge of language, society or the religious practices of that country.
Upreti did discuss the plights of Lebanon-based Nepalis with previous foreign minister K.P. Sharma Oli and even got assurances that the government would look into the matter. The process ended with the change in the government.
Nepalis are scattered mainly in urban centres like Beirut, Juneih, Tripoli and Zalala, which are quite prone to frequent communal and religious conflicts.
At times, Nepali peacekeepers provide crucial help to Nepalis caught in difficulties. At the initiation of Col. Raju Khadka, a number of Nepalis injured during the riots have received free medical treatments at UN hospitals in Lebanon.
The NRN Lebanon has demanded that the Nepal government either ban migration to Lebanon or make legal provisions and upgrade the diplomatic mission there to look into the problems of Nepali migrant workers. nepalnews.com Oct 16 07
What a sad thing this is.
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