Ban on female migrant workers to be lifted

Nepal is set to lift its ban on domestic workers migrating to West Asia, starting with a pilot agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This decision marks a major victory for advocacy groups, human rights organisations, the ILO, activists, media, and scholars who have campaigned against the restriction, saying it increases the vulnerability of workers to exploitation.

This legally binding agreement with a country that employs hundreds of thousands of Nepali domestic workers should be a cause for celebration, but lifting the migration ban on a pilot basis raises pressing questions. 

How will the government select the 5,000 domestic workers? How will it reach prospective workers? And what provisions will be made for those migrating to the UAE without permits?

We also need to look at how the government plans to reintegrate returnee workers, and engage rights organisations, activists, and scholars in the consultation and negotiation process, and recognise unrecognised Nepali migrant domestic workers already in the UAE.

The lack of information on Nepali domestic workers abroad stems from long-standing migration bans imposed by the government as a protectionist policy. For years, Nepal has imposed various degrees and forms of bans on domestic workers' mobility, mainly affecting women, culminating in a blanket ban since 2017. This was eased in 2020 with the introduction of seven preconditions, but it only reinforced barriers instead of offering a solution.

Despite the restrictions, Nepalis continued migrating for domestic work, both through formal and informal channels. Many resort to illicit routes, making it nearly impossible to count their numbers. Some reports estimate between 60,000-100,000, but anecdotal evidence suggests that the figure could be as high as 500,000. This scale reflects the immense vulnerability of Nepali domestic workers abroad.

Many feel abandoned by those meant to protect and fight for them. Nepal embassies in destination countries fail to support them after they flee abuse and exploitation, especially as they are undocumented.

In many cases, employers confisticate passports or documents of the workers. Stripped of their identity, they rely on the Nepali diaspora or agents to navigate the host country as ‘illegal immigrants’ facing risks of raids, criminalisation, and further exploitation. Many returnee Nepali women have spent months in jail in Gulf countries before being deported back to Nepal.

The vulnerabilities and exploitation of migrant domestic workers are discussed in the media, policy, and academic circles, but their deaths are consistently overlooked. Migrant worker fatalities have become synonymous with just male workers, and there is a troubling silence surrounding the deaths of systematically disadvantaged women who are domestic workers.

They often die by suicide, due to exploitation, or from work-related illnesses. Yet, migration bans and the lack of political will to acknowledge the lives, labour, health, and deaths of these women prevent justice for them and their families in the face of tragedy.

Many who die never have their bodies returned to Nepal. For those who are repatriated, it is often due to the intervention of domestic worker organisations in Nepal or the diaspora. 

Migration bans worsen this tragedy, making it nearly impossible for families to report missing or deceased loved ones for fear of being criminalised as "traffickers".

The exploitation and deaths of migrant female domestic workers are ignored due to the grip of patriarchy, class, and caste on Nepal's labour and migration policies. These policies control their mobility, devalue their labour, and fail to provide dignified, sustainable jobs, making their bodies disposable. 

As a result, many Nepali women feel abandoned by their state, society, and families. Yet, despite this, they never abandon Nepal or their loved ones.

Many Nepali women migrate to break the cycle of caste-based discrimination and gender violence by sending remittances for their children's education. Hence, when a female domestic worker dies, it’s not just their family that suffers, the impact extends to their children and the nation’s future. 

These sacrifices of these women, crucial to Nepal’s socio-economic progress, must be acknowledged, valued, and protected. The government must prioritise unconditional recognition of all domestic workers abroad to address the impact of exploitation and deaths of Nepali female migrant domestic workers.

It must inform the Nepali diaspora that it will unconditionally recognise all migrant domestic workers, regardless of documentation status: perhaps the only way to count them abroad.

As Nepal prepares to lift the migration ban on domestic workers, it must not abandon its most vulnerable citizens. This neglect heightens their vulnerability to exploitation and death, and threatens their families in times of tragedy.

 We urge the government to raise this issue during the negotiations with the UAE, request immunity for these workers, and take the crucial step of counting domestic workers through Nepali embassies and consulates.

Once this step is taken, the government must expand its welfare net, such as providing insurance coverage, to safeguard workers and their families in worst-case scenarios. Insuring hundreds of thousands of Nepali domestic workers is not just protection, it is an investment in the well-being and future of Nepal.

We hope the pilot program leads to the full lifting of migration bans. But before we celebrate, we must not forget the hundreds of thousands of undocumented Nepali migrant domestic workers already in the Gulf. They are citizens too, and it is the duty of the state not to abandon them.

Ayushman Bhagat, PhD, is a lecturer in Political Geography at Brunel University of London, and Sunita Mainali is the Executive Director of WOREC, Nepal.