Migration is development

His name is Jay. But we called him ‘Artist’.

Artist could draw from his imagination. He has had no formal training, and is from the Musahar community here in Mahottari district. 

“Ever since I was in Grade 5, I started dabbling with art and got better at it,” he told us. “My friends used to request me to draw for them which encouraged me further.”

He was part of an initiative aimed at making ethical recruitment accessible to the most marginalised communities who face significant barriers to migration.

Prior to departure in September 2024, he would stand in the middle of the orientation class, doodling unperturbed while two dozen pairs of eyes watched him. Perhaps he did not sense others watching him because his passion transported him to a different world. Or maybe he knew he was good at his craft, and the others were admiring his work.

Upon our request to fit the theme for the day he doodled an airport scene. But when left to his own devices, his natural inclination was to draw portraits of Hindu gods and goddesses (pictured, above). His wife told us he was the go-to person for people in his village when they wanted divine portraits on their walls, doors, vehicles and curtains.

Artist told us, “I have not made art on my wall yet because I don’t have a good house. Once I build a good house with my overseas earnings, I will draw portraits of Shankar Bhagwan and Krishna on my wall.”

With that, he left for Malaysia. And 15 months after his departure, we visited Artist’s family in Mahottari (pictured, below). His house is being renovated, and by the time he returns it will be ready for his portraits. 

His mother beamed proudly, “I had told my son that as long as I lived, I would do everything to ensure his education was not interrupted. I made sure he passed his Grade 12 and learnt how to use a computer. Now he tells me not to do any work.” 

They have paid off almost all their piled up loans of Rs500,000. Listening to her made me wonder what other intervention would have helped a family like hers pay off their outstanding loans, renovate the house and invest in better education and nutrition within 15 months.

Other Musahar families say that equally vital benefits of fee-free migration in their case include being able to pay off outstanding loans, covering a niece’s one-month hospitalisation bills, savings, meeting household expenses, purchasing medicines, and funding children’s education. The way a large crowd had gathered to see workers off shows how migration is as much about the families as it is about them. 

To be sure, migration is not a utopia, remittance is not a silver bullet. Factory work is not easy, and overtime hours are not always guaranteed. Living away from home has its downsides. Missed milestones such as childbirth can be painful. Not everyone passes job interviews for ethical migration drives, which are few to begin with. Not everyone stays for the duration of their contract.

Based on our conversations with the Musahar youth, had they not migrated they would likely be engaged in low-paying seasonal jobs in India, day labour in brick kilns, or working in others’ agricultural fields, or possibly be unemployed. 

If they did beat the odds to migrate overseas via traditional models, the challenges are well known: everyone would have taken loans at exorbitant interest rates, which could take months or even years to repay. Any goals they had would have to be delayed. Even then, there would be risks of contract violations. 

The ethical recruitment agency, International Manpower Recruitment, responsible for this drive had to retrieve passports of some of its candidates from fraudulent brokers who had been sitting on them for months.

Some workers told us they did not even have access to informal loans at high interest rates. Aside from zero upfront costs, it is transparency in responsible recruitment drives that is refreshing: workers get the job and benefits as per the contract. And while this may seem like a low bar, that is what workers really want but don’t always get.

The way migration is being carried out now, it is a risky enterprise and almost like a lottery. Aspirants must navigate a second ‘lottery’ beyond the birthplace lottery, which drives many to seek opportunities unavailable in their place of origin: migration, with its uncertain, unpredictable and even arbitrary outcomes given malpractices and irresponsible actors.

We have interviewed cleaners and factory workers who went for identical jobs – some for free, while the majority paid between Rs150,000-350,000. To try to make sense of this randomness is a futile exercise. But any migration related intervention that can contribute in addressing the unknowns to make migration outcomes predictable would go a long way for workers and their families who are often entangled in the haphazard mess it often is.

On International Migrants Day 18 December, we should reflect on how our public narrative around migration should separate fraudulent migration practices from the notion that migration itself is inherently a problem. Good migration can be powerful, and must be made accessible to the poorest, most marginalised.

Schemes to connect someone like Artist with the Japanese Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) or Korean Employment Permit System (EPS) programs that have higher barriers of access like language testing requirements, would make the rewards of migrating even higher than what he is making in Malaysia. 

It will be like how Musahar youth are finding migration to Malaysia significantly more rewarding than their previous gigs in India. After all, gains of migration are relative, and merits attention from bilateral aid agencies of important host countries for Nepali like JICA and KOICA which invest in anti-poverty programs in Nepal. Migration is development.

Malaysia-based Artist, from Nepal’s Musahar community, personifies the theme, ‘talent is everywhere, opportunities are not’ and that good migration can be an equaliser of opportunities. 

Sometimes, all people need is a platform, a nudge, and an opportunity. Good labour migration can be one such option, alongside domestic priorities like social protection and job creation. Artist will soon return to his renovated house ready for him to draw portraits of gods and goddesses. 

And soon, he will be able to start the painting business for signboards and vehicle art that he said he has always dreamed of but could not pursue due to a lack of capital.  

Upasana Khadka heads Migration Lab, a social enterprise aimed at making migration outcomes better for workers and their families. Labour Mobility is her fortnightly column in Nepali Times.