Shared stories, shattered dreams of South Asian migrant workers

What is it about labour migration that keeps drawing hundreds of thousands of people every year away from their homes and families despite the evident risks?

Panos South Asia’s new collection of reportage from the region, Uncertain Journeys: Labour Migration from South Asia seeks to answer this question through the eyes of 15 senior journalists who researched their stories in destination countries. Based on their interviews, they analyse various aspects of labour migration.

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Changing the headlines on migration, Upasana Khadka

Labour pain, Om Astha Rai

The first chapter on Nepal is by Upasana Khadka, who has reported widely on the issue of Nepali migrants in the Gulf and Malaysia for this newspaper. Khadka likens labour migration to a lottery, a culturally fatalistic view borne out of desperation to escape poverty back home. She narrates the stories of four individuals: Sharmila, Ramesh, Shama and Ram who are unlucky and are either caught, cheated, trafficked, or deported. Yet, even though they know the risks,  thousands of others take same route to seek their fortunes.

‘Individuals are often aware of the common risks of migration … however, many continue to make risky decisions, not always because of lack of information, but despite it … it is possibility of being lucky that encourages so many to take risks,” she writes.

Khadka also talks about the lack of bilateral agreements that have encouraged  avenues for illegal migration. Case in point is the blanket ban on female domestic workers leaving Nepal, despite which migrants continue to risk unauthorised channels to make it to their destination, setting in motion the chain of trafficking.

Janak Raj Sapkota, author of the much-acclaimed book Kahar: Baideshi Rojgarile Bitholindo Samaj’ delves into human trafficking in Nepal under the guise of legal foreign employment, and the lack of laws that makes the connection between the two that has helped traffickers work behind the scenes.

He argues that the political protection enjoyed by the remittance industry has aided this form of modern-day slavery to flourish, and until the ambiguities in legal structures are cleared and stronger policies are in place, Nepalis abroad will continue to be duped, or worse, abused and maimed. 

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Paying an arm and a leg, Om Astha Rai

Killed in the line of Duty, Om Astha Rai and Sonia Awale

Uncertain Journeys: Labour Migration from South Asia

Edited by A.S. Panneerselvan

Speaking Tiger Publishing, New Delhi 

Price: INR 499

Filmmaker Kesang Tseten whose acclaimed 2008 documentary In Search of the Riyal about four young Nepalis on journeys to the Gulf first bought the stark realities behind the remittances, also has a chapter about filming in Qatar and how he had to sneak behind aircraft crew to capture conversations with migrants inside the planes.

Eleven years later he revisits characters from the first film for a sequel. He found that Danvir Jogi is still in Qatar and making good money, Navin Rai returned to a broken marriage and left again for Dubai, Prem Bareilly is in Dharan working as a silversmith amidst stigma of being a Dalit and Bhojraj Darzi is now a successful pig farmer in Nepal. But none of these are representative tales, Tsenten stresses, pointing out that it is vital to understand and sympathise with Nepalis opting to go abroad.

The chapters on other South Asian show that there are a lot of similarities between the tragic tales of Nepali workers and those from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India. The case of Zulfiqar Ali of Pakistan who was charged with drug trafficking and consequently spent 13 years in death row in Indonesia reminds one of conviction and incarceration of Govinda Mainali, who was falsely accused of the murder and robbery of a Japanese woman in Tokyo in 1997.

Read also: From Chitwan to Chiyoda, Kunda Dixit

In a chapter appropriately titled ‘A Return to Nothingness’, narration of an everyday scene at Indian airports, of the body bags being unloaded is not unlike Nepali migrants returning home in coffins at Kathmandu airport. The migration of Sri Lankan farmers to the Gulf because of droughts caused by climate change is similar to that of outmigration of people from the mid-hills of Nepal. Bangladeshis overcharged and cheated of jobs in Singapore echo the plight of most Nepali migrants in Malaysia. 

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Kleptocrats of Kathmandu and Kuala Lumpur, Ramu Sapkota and Alyaa Alhadjri

Home they bring workers dead, Upasana Khadka 

Amidst the poignant stories of loss, there are tiny rays of hope. Following the three decades of war in Sri Lanka, women were forced to leave as domestic workers and toil hard in the Gulf, but discovered themselves in the process as individuals with rights and freedom.  

What ties all of these stories together are the shared stories of aspiration and shattered dreams. Meanwhile all South Asian nations rely on the same destinations resulting in completion with each other, allowing employers to get away with little pay and exploitation in turn.

Each chapter is a raw portrayal of a migrant life, and the book gives significant understanding of the poverty and social injustice in South Asia.

The book is being launched at the Nepal Literature Festival in Pokhara during the weekend.

Riyal revisited

“The tidal wave of migration that began 20 years ago continues…”
That is how Kesang Tseten begins his documentary sequel to the 2008 film In Search of the Riyal. He tries to locate migrant workers he had filmed a decade ago, to find out what has become of them.

Were their dreams realised? Did the Nepali workers in Qatar and UAE find what they were looking for? Were the intervening years kind to them? 

In The Riyalists, acclaimed film-maker Tseten (pictured, above) spends the first five minutes setting the stage for the journey ahead. We get to revisit young Nepalis on scaffolds whom we first met in the previous award-winning documentary.

Ten years ago Dhanvir Jogi, a lanky lad from Terathum left behind his three-month-old son and started training at an institute in Kathmandu. He was diligent and hopeful, but worried about falling sick in the hot desert. 

In In Search of the Riyal Prem Bareily who often faced the stigma of being a Dalit back home in Dharan, did not shy away from his fears: “They might be talking about killing me but I wouldn’t know… I won’t understand their language.” 

Bhoj Darzi was fully aware of the risk he was putting himself into. He had heard of Nepalis returning home in coffins. Yet he took a loan in the hope of trading his job as a tailor in Jhapa for a more financially secure position in the Gulf. 

Shy and awkard, Nabin Rai, has a sad story with a happy ending. Tseten narrates: “It was the image of Nabin in his crisp white shirt and his newly married wife sporting a blue umbrella that remained etched in my mind from the earlier film.” 

But after two years in Qatar, Nabin came back to find that his wife took off with another man and abandoned his twin daughters. Nabin remarried and left for Dubai. Today, he is a foreman at an offshore gas rig and earns a good salary. He gets to visit home every three months where he is building a new home for his family.

Dhanvir, who is with the same construction company in Qatar, has managed to acquire some land, get his sisters married, send his son to school, but missed out on his upbringing. “I was thin and young when I came,” he says on camera, “I’ll go back old.”

Prem left Doha because he was not paid on time and mistreated by employers, and now works as a silversmith but faces stiff competition. He proudly shows the best worker certificate he received in Qatar and often regrets his decision to return. “I make good enough living here but there is no saving for future,” he rues.

In Bhoj, there is no trace of a young man who once explained with wonder how the food tray inside planes worked. He was deported from Dubai for going on strike, framed by fellow workers. He left for Qatar next but returned shortly afterwards when his wife fell sick. His mother and wife run a local garment factory and he recently overtook his dead brother’s profitable piggery. He believes Nepalis can make it at home if they work hard.
The four men are just a few of the hundreds of thousands of Nepalis toiling abroad. 

Their lives are mostly fascinating, not tragic. But what draws audience to these individuals is Tseten’s simple but compelling storytelling, his poignant narration, flawless direction interwoven with clips from ten years ago. Viewers will be struck by his compassion for less fortunate compatriots.

There are moments of laughter, of camaraderie, of loss and farewells. Through it all, Tsenten is with us, uncovering men’s lives, sharing their grief and intact hopes, bringing us an intimate portrayal of Nepali migrants away and at home. 

The day this documentary will be launched, another 1,500 young Nepali men and women will fly off, forsaking their fields and families for the hopes of a better future. This film will help us understand why they leave despite real risks, and the need to create opportunities at home. 

The Riyalists
Directed by Kesang Tseten
Sunyata Film Productions, 2018
61 minutes

Sonia Awale