This is the 45th instalment of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/diaspora-diaries-1/">Diaspora Diaries</a>, a regular series in Nepali Times with stories of Nepalis living and working abroad. Pramod KC, Salyan&nbsp; In Israel, we were advised during orientation to run to bunkers when the siren went off. It is a normal part of daily life there.&nbsp; But for us 17 <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepalis-confirmed-killed-in-hamas-attack">Nepalis at Kibbutz Alumim</a>, it was the first time since we landed in Israel a month previously that we heard the siren go off that Saturday morning, and had to run to the bunker near our apartment.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231022071024_d4ca226cf4525a29a724b1df66653246c012b5c386a4361c24288b0e023fc6ad.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20231022071024_d4ca226cf4525a29a724b1df66653246c012b5c386a4361c24288b0e023fc6ad" data-rendition-name="original" width="1224" height="1632" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis in Iarael Hamas attack"> <figcaption>Pramod KC</figcaption> </figure>  It soon turned into a nightmare. We were hiding in the bunker, all 17 of us crammed together. Outside, there were gunshots, sirens and explosions, &nbsp;we also heard increasingly loud and angry voices in Arabic. We did not understand what was being said, but it was evident that something was terribly wrong.&nbsp; Hamas had captured the area and armed men were coming near our bunker.&nbsp; Birendra Chaudhary, Kailali&nbsp; The sounds of firing got closer. One of our friends who was closer to the door got shot in the leg. Another friend tried to explain to the gunmen that we are Nepalis, hoping they would show some mercy, but got shot as well. Both died on the spot.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231022071028_ffb2d5cb464470b461466f5f5617196319a7d01476bc322c757ba6f20b1847f5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20231022071028_ffb2d5cb464470b461466f5f5617196319a7d01476bc322c757ba6f20b1847f5" data-rendition-name="original" width="960" height="958" loading="lazy" alt="Neplais in Iarael Hamas Attack"> <figcaption>Birendra Chaudhary</figcaption> </figure>  The gunmen then threw two grenades inside our bunker. Bipin Joshi quickly hurled one of them out. But the second one exploded inside, injuring five of our friends, mostly below their waists. I can't describe the scene, their legs were crushed, and they were in a lot of pain.&nbsp; Avash Bhattarai, Kailali&nbsp; Bipin and Himanchal worked on a farm in a kibbutz 12 km away from mine. The three of us have been inseparable since our undergrad years, and had gone to Israel together.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023102207108_7d0bcffe976766d01e8bffda420c707a5050bf00868a1557ce03edfbdbeb52d8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2023102207108_7d0bcffe976766d01e8bffda420c707a5050bf00868a1557ce03edfbdbeb52d8" data-rendition-name="original" width="780" height="780" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis in Israel Hamas attack"> <figcaption>Bipin, Avash and Himanchal had been inseparable since their undergrad years, and had gone to Israel together.</figcaption> </figure>  At my farm, Saturday was a workday. We were packing onions and tomatos from 7AM. Our friends had sent us group pictures from the bunker where they were hiding so we knew something was up, but we did not take it seriously.&nbsp; The pictures were of happy selfies and them playing ludo on their phones in the bunker.&nbsp; But after 8AM, the electricity went off. Things were already getting tense with sounds of sirens and missiles, so our employer told us to stop working and that we would resume when things normalised. &nbsp; By now, the news was bad from where Himanchal and Bipin were. I called Himanchal, he did not pick up but sent me a message saying two of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/war-in-israel-earthquake-and-grief-in-nepal">our friends had died after getting shot</a>. We were shocked. &nbsp; After that he went out of contact. We were terrified. Instead of the bunker, we hid in our apartment because we had already learnt that Hamas gunmen were coming inside bunkers. Bunkers no longer felt safe.&nbsp; Pramod KC, Salyan&nbsp; Of the 17 of us Nepalis in the bunker, five were injured and two were dead. How do I describe that scene, of watching your friends suffer, die in front of your eyes?&nbsp; Three Israeli medical policemen finally arrived at our bunker, which gave us a little bit of hope. They attended to our injured friends. They took the remaining ten of us to another bunker nearby with a kitchen. Bipin Joshi was with us.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231022071036_34f97f3eed7167a9b8e1d1e22331c5d054dc49c605abbd6f5c4e0b6a5766aad8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20231022071036_34f97f3eed7167a9b8e1d1e22331c5d054dc49c605abbd6f5c4e0b6a5766aad8" data-rendition-name="original" width="703" height="540" loading="lazy" alt="Iareal Hamas attack"> <figcaption>Bunkers after the Hamas attack. Source: https://fb.watch/nQj7lvGUpq/</figcaption> </figure>  We hid wherever we could in that crammed space, and the location we managed to squeeze ourselves in would later decide our fate.&nbsp; Also hiding in the second bunker were <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/as-in-nepal-thais-mourn-nationals-killed-in-israel">workers from Thailand</a>. We got calls from friends who had been injured in the grenade attack, the Israeli police apparently left them there and did not take them immediately to hospital. We called the embassy and other Nepalis but there was no help. Only two of those injured survived. We could do nothing.&nbsp; Himanchal Kattel, Tel Aviv About 90 minutes after we sought shelter in the kitchen bunker, Hamas fighters broke down the door and started shooting at us. I was shot thrice – in my left chest, right chest, and in my finger.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231022071012_12c290d603cdadef2ffaa2b4144b4487c7653ceed75b77a965bc9d2f5563b446.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20231022071012_12c290d603cdadef2ffaa2b4144b4487c7653ceed75b77a965bc9d2f5563b446" data-rendition-name="original" width="1080" height="1084" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis in Isreal Hamas attack"> <figcaption>Avash with Himanchal who was shot thrice, and is now recovering in a hospital.</figcaption> </figure>  Bipin Joshi was not shot. They took him and three Thai men outside. I do not know what happened there. I was rescued after six hours from the bunker by Israeli soldiers and taken to hospital where I am now recovering.&nbsp; Birendra Chaudhary, Kailali&nbsp; The gunmen did not pick targets, they just shot mercilessly at whatever they saw and left. At various points I had thought I would die, and had tightly shut my eyes waiting for the end. But somehow, I survived.&nbsp; One of the grenades had hurt my leg and it was bleeding. I tried to stay still for hours in the corner, and could not switch positions no matter how much it hurt. It was hard to breathe too because of the tear gas. &nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/bringing-nepal-to-israel">Bringing Nepal to Israel</a>, Prabha Ghimire Everything else is a blur. The wounded were asking for water, but I was hiding in the corner trembling with fear and could not help. I waited for hours. &nbsp; Later, the Thais heard Hebrew being spoken and said Israeli soldiers had arrived. So they went out, and we followed them.&nbsp; Pramod KC, Salyan&nbsp; After we were rescued by the Army, I was asked to identify bodies in the bunker. We did not see Bipin anywhere, and we presumed he was taken with the Thais as hostage. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231022071032_030bca84d0663d2ebe78d4a8ab22603e3c3b5055bbc96b69d8880fd11cbc13f0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20231022071032_030bca84d0663d2ebe78d4a8ab22603e3c3b5055bbc96b69d8880fd11cbc13f0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1125" height="2000" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis in Iarel Himas attack"> </figure>  To get news, any news, about his whereabouts would help. His family is deeply worried. We hope the government and media can lobby for him.&nbsp; I am lucky to have come out of this unhurt. When I first saw the Nepali flag plane that came to Tel Aviv to take us back, I felt I had already reached home. It was a bittersweet feeling to be safe, but I lost all those friends. I went to visit my friend Prabesh Bhandari’s mother, who is also from Salyan. He was her only son. She is in shock and tells me that she has lost everything and just wants her son’s body (“सास त आएन लास त ल्याइदिनु नि, बाबु”).  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231022071040_5df7f440928f09bf0f9bc493d06b6fb91ff412999d6afba53e99e7d9ee328f29.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20231022071040_5df7f440928f09bf0f9bc493d06b6fb91ff412999d6afba53e99e7d9ee328f29" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1366" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis killed in Israel Hamas attack"> <figcaption>The bodies of three of 10 Nepalis killed in Israel, Narayan Prasad Neupane, Lokendra Singh Dhami and Dipesh Raj Bista arrived in Kathmandu on Sunday. Four identified bodies were sent, the body of Ashish Chaudhary will arrive in the afternoon. Photo: SUMAN NEPALI</figcaption> </figure>  I cannot sleep properly. I wake up, replaying the trauma in the bunker in my mind, I hear the sound of sirens and voices of friends asking for water. These memories haunt me. The slightest sound frightens me. After a week at home and spending time with family and friends, it has got slightly better.&nbsp; I feel this is my second birth. I stared at death in the face twice in those bunkers.&nbsp; Avash Bhattarai, Kailali The first time I communicated with Himanchal after October 7, it was in the hospital where he is now recovering. We spent about an hour chatting before I headed to Nepal, and I call him every day.&nbsp; I am of course happy to be with my family who really were under a lot of stress, but I still have mixed feelings about leaving my friends behind, and losing many.&nbsp; Bipin is still nowhere to be found. I hope he is ok. The news of two American hostages being freed has given us a tiny flicker of hope. One can only hope and pray that he is safe, and will be returned soon.&nbsp; But my mind also goes in different directions: between hope and fearing the worst. His parents and sister are in shock and waiting for him.&nbsp; Bipin had said we should join forces for an agriculture startup after we returned from Israel. We had literally gone to Israel to ‘<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/diaspora-diaries/i-went-to-earn-and-learn">learn and earn</a>’. Look what happened.&nbsp; Birendra Chaudhary, Salyan&nbsp; It is still difficult to imagine how I survived when so many others died. I had my second session today with an Israeli counsellor. She has helped me relax a bit. The night before this massacre, it was a Friday and we had cooked chicken together for dinner. Little did we know what lay in store for us the next day.&nbsp; For Dasain, we had planned a full goat cookout, our first Dasain away from Nepal.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231022071028_77bda722eabbffed7c1a209651901723c29a966dd6f204c54dc8df3869e9a7e2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_13" data-image-id="20231022071028_77bda722eabbffed7c1a209651901723c29a966dd6f204c54dc8df3869e9a7e2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1200" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis in Israel Hamas attack"> <figcaption>Birendra, Pramod and other Nepali students in Isreal before the attack.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231022071020_8f87b5fd87fc7b1ac2aa99ed658f6c8b9f194934be5917f8fd2465c13a3ab89a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="20231022071020_8f87b5fd87fc7b1ac2aa99ed658f6c8b9f194934be5917f8fd2465c13a3ab89a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1249" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Nepali students at the bunker before the Hamas attack on 7 October. "> <figcaption>Nepali students in a bunker before the Hamas attack on 7 October.</figcaption> </figure>  Translated from a conversation. Diaspora Diaries is a regular column in Nepali Times providing a platform for Nepalis to share their experiences of living, working, studying abroad.&nbsp; Authentic and original entries can be sent to editors@nepalitimes.com with ‘Diaspora Diaries’ in the subject line.&nbsp; Compiled with help from <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/a-nepali-s-lucky-escape-from-hamas" target="_blank">Nischal Pandey</a> now in Kailali and Ramesh Joshi in Tel Aviv.

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Waiting for Bipin Joshi

The Israel-Hamas conflict has seen a fortnight of horrific carnage of innocents by both sides, but families in two faraway Asian countries are also grieving — in Nepal and Thailand.
<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/war-in-israel-earthquake-and-grief-in-nepal" target="_blank">Ten Nepali students working in Kibbutz Alumim were killed</a> and one is still missing, presumed to have been taken hostage. So far, 30 Thai farm workers have also been confirmed killed by Hamas gunmen in the early morning of 7 October, and 19 were abducted.
The missing Nepali, Bipin Joshi from Dhangadi, was hiding with other Nepalis and Thais when Hamas fighters threw a grenade into their bunker. Joshi had the presence of mind to hurl the grenade out, but another one exploded killing some of the Nepalis and Thais.
The surviving Nepalis and Thais then fled to another nearby bunker that they thought was safer, but Hamas fighters stormed that one too, and sprayed those inside with gunfire. They then took away seven of the Thais as hostages.
Those are among the total 19 Thai nationals who were abducted, and the missing Nepali is suspected to be among them.
As in Nepal, media commentators in Thailand have pointed out that despite the legitimate grievances of the Palestinian people against Israeli occupation of their land, the indiscriminate slaughter of innocent civilians and foreigners by Hamas was counterproductive.
‘Hamas has made a bad name for the Palestinian cause, eliciting condemnation and opposition all the way over here in Thailand,’ wrote <a href="https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/2667609/a-thai-view-on-the-hamas-israel-war" target="_blank">Thitinan Pongsudhirak of Chulalongkorn University in the Bangkok Post</a>.&nbsp;
‘For the Thai people, Hamas' killing spree on Thai workers is unfathomable. Thailand has never done anything to harm Hamas nor caused any trouble for the inhabitants of the Palestinian territories.’&nbsp;
Thai media have quoted survivors who have returned who say that Hamas could have specifically targeted Thais because local Palestinians were resentful of foreigners taking agriculture jobs aways from them. The Israel government started replacing Palestinian farm and construction workers with migrant labour from various Asian countries after a spurt in militant attacks during the 1987 Intifada.
While the Nepalis in Israel were mainly young university students studying agriculture on 11-month <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepalis-learn-and-earn-from-israel" target="_blank">‘earn and learn’</a> schemes in Israel, the Thais here were long term farm workers.&nbsp;
There are an estimated 30,000 Thai workers in Israel’s farms, and 8,400 of those in the conflict zone are now asking their government to urgently repatriate them. Some 700 arrived in Bangkok on charter flights on Friday. The bodies of 8 of the Thai workers killed were also flown in, while the others will be sent home after being identified.
There were 265 Nepali students in various parts of Israel, and 18 of the 10 who were killed were in Kibbutz Alumin. Most of them were repatriated to Kathmandu on a Nepal Airlines flight on 12 October. Four of the bodies of Nepalis arrive in Kathmandu on Sunday.
Just like the Nepalis who were killed were from poor farming families in the remote far western districts of Nepal, most of the Thai farm workers are also from Thailand’s poorest northeastern regions.
Similar to the Nepali good samaritan like <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/bringing-nepal-to-israel" target="_blank">caregiver Prabha Ghimire</a> and others, who have helped wounded Nepali workers in hospitals in Tel Aviv, the press here has also been all praise for Thai women in Israel who have gone out of their way to help their compatriots caught up in the war.
Viphavadi Vannachai, 40, a Thai married to an Israeli travelled to dangerous areas on the Gaza border to rescue stranded workers, help the wounded and assisted with repatriation of those who wanted to return.
Thai families of those taken hostage have pleaded for their release, saying they had “nothing to do with the Israel-Palestine conflict” and were there “simply there to earn money”.

As in Nepal, Thais mourn nationals killed in Israel

This is the 44th instalment of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/diaspora-diaries">Diaspora Diaries</a>, a regular series in Nepali Times with stories of Nepalis living and working abroad.&nbsp; Waiting outside the operation theatre in Jerusalem, I was getting restless as Prabin Dangi, one of the Learn and Earn students who miraculously survived the Hamas attack was getting surgery inside. I learnt from a Nepali community social media group chat that he had been brought to a hospital in Jerusalem where I live, so I rushed over. He had been shot in both the legs. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/war-in-israel-earthquake-and-grief-in-nepal">War in Israel, earthquake and grief in Nepal</a> Other bullets that would have killed him, just like his friends in the bunker, ricocheted off the wall dislodging a piece of stone which fell on his head requiring Prabin to get stitches. I was worried sick as I waited restlessly hoping for another miracle. It took six hours for the surgery to be over. Reading the news about <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepalis-confirmed-killed-in-hamas-attack">fellow Nepalis getting killed</a> had broken me, perhaps a common emotion experienced by Nepalis everywhere.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231012111044_711d3b75c0ee1fd78d42478cd5265e57ce38c87d305aca61a42415c63af565e6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20231012111044_711d3b75c0ee1fd78d42478cd5265e57ce38c87d305aca61a42415c63af565e6" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis in Israel Hamas attack NT 1"> <figcaption>Prabin Dangi after his surgery. </figcaption> </figure>  A video of him hiding in his bunker saying “My mother is very sick. Please save her. I think I will die” had gone viral and yet, despite the odds, he made it out alive. I found myself cheering on a stranger in a foreign land. But then again, he was not really a stranger. When you are abroad, just coming across a Nepali makes you instantly bond, and somehow there is a close connection. And in this horrific situation, knowing about what he had been through, and realising that he was my son’s age, I had to help. He was definitely not a stranger. We were family. And perhaps the whole of Nepal is now wishing him a speedy recovery. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/a-nepali-s-lucky-escape-from-hamas">A Nepali's lucky escape from Hamas</a>, Nischal Pandey Finally, after six hours, the surgery ended successfully. I convinced the medical staff to let me see him, appealing to their conscience. In that chaos, rules did not matter, and they allowed me in. I introduced myself to him as his sister. He asked me if he still had his legs. I assured him that he did. Despite the injuries, much to his relief, his legs did not have to be amputated. With therapy and healing, he will be back on his in time. I tried my best to keep his morale high, to steer the conversation away from the nightmare. I had to remind him that despite the situation in that crowded hospital ward where beds were all taken up by other wounded, he was very lucky. Other Nepalis have come together to help Prabin. We are all here to work, and have long duty hours, but we have set up a schedule to make sure that there is a Nepali at the hospital to take care of him at all times. Nepalis also collected money to buy him a phone so he can stay connected with his family. As he builds an appetite, which he currently does not have, we will take turns to take Nepali food for him and make sure that he does not feel alone while he recovers. He knew his father’s number by heart, so I called him during our first meet. His father cried but was also relieved to hear about his son’s health. With him, I cried as well. What must be going through the family’s mind when your son, who had just recently gone overseas with big dreams, met with such a freak incident? Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/trapped-in-ukraine">Trapped in Ukraine</a> He narrowly escaped death, and the road to recovery is long. Unexpected long-distance bad news is perhaps one of the most difficult realities for transnational families like us. You are going by your normal day, and suddenly, your life just turns upside down. With the news of a death, sickness, accident and in Prabin’s case, a terrorist attack. I myself went through a similar experience of finding out crushing news from home when my husband passed away seven years ago suddenly, unexpectedly, of a heart attack.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231012111056_95273056de34598ec25704573e0e71ff8f9a98f7c5da236b9d32a89e8ed60308.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20231012111056_95273056de34598ec25704573e0e71ff8f9a98f7c5da236b9d32a89e8ed60308" data-rendition-name="original" width="720" height="480" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis killed in Israel Hamas attack NT"> <figcaption>Prabha Ghimire with her late husband who passed away due to a heart attack.</figcaption> </figure>  He was a loving husband, and I never got over the loss. I do not know how I made it to Nepal, neither do I know how I made it back to Israel. It is all a blur. But once I returned, the caregiver in me needed care myself. I was sick, and used to faint. I had lost my appetite and was weak. My blood pressure was low and I had to be escorted back to my room as I would pass out unexpectedly. I relied on medicines. I would break down unexpectedly and constantly. Grief hits you in different ways, and I struggled to cope. Luckily, the Israeli family I work for was understanding. They let me grieve and gave me all the space I needed. They even offered to let me go so I could be with my family. I insisted on staying on. I had to get myself out of that deep hole. In the end, it was the thought of my sons back home in Nepal that gave me the strength to try harder. With my husband gone, I was their sole guardian. I had to pull myself together for their sake. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepali-family-spread-across-kuwait-cyprus-uae">Nepali family spread across Kuwait, Cyprus, UAE</a>, Tsering Lama and Pasang Lama Fifteen years abroad is a significant part of your life. The caregiver job has had its ups and downs, gains and losses. The earnings are good, and I have invested in educating my sons. They are now in Canada and the US, well-educated and doing well for themselves. But how do you weigh that against not knowing what it is like to be close to your children -- watching them grow up. They too do not know what it is like to have their mother around. But had I not come to Israel to work, they probably would not have made it as far as they have.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231012111048_16388368274c2812ee2d60296b229b0129243aeaed6f6bb9a0dff0d97090c3a1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20231012111048_16388368274c2812ee2d60296b229b0129243aeaed6f6bb9a0dff0d97090c3a1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="776" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis in Israel Hamas attack NT 1"> <figcaption>Prabha Ghimire with her son and his friends in the US. </figcaption> </figure>  How do you measure this tradeoff, especially given the loss of my husband in the midst of our long-distance marriage? We were married in Nepal when I was just 14, just a child myself. My mother-in-law had passed, and even as a teenager I had to assume the role of guardian of my husband's eight younger siblings. They too treated me like their mother. At first I was unsure of what I was doing as I learnt to cook, chase and clean after them. Perhaps this trained me well for my later <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/nepali-caregivers-in-israel,3809">caregiver role</a> here in Israel when I came in 2007. Since then I have changed three employers. Sadly, the reason the last two times has been the passing of my elderly patients. It’s easy to get attached to these frail seniors who become more and more dependent on you. Keeping them company and having conversations is also a huge part of my job. They remember their younger days, share interesting snippets or give life advice. When I go home to Nepal on yearly breaks, the substitute who usually is a Nepali calls me to tell me to come back as soon as possible as savta (grandmother) is missing me and asking for me. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231012111048_2ea77043e2069c6facc4e846fffa529995d98da03d17d60ed34aa3a5d42b2d3f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20231012111048_2ea77043e2069c6facc4e846fffa529995d98da03d17d60ed34aa3a5d42b2d3f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis in Israel Hamas attack NT 1"> <figcaption>Prabha Ghimire with her elderly patients in Iarael. </figcaption> </figure>  I carry a little bit of each of these patients with me. I have had one employer who till her last day made it a point to put make up on every morning and look dolled up. She loved to eat outside and had a zest for life that was infectious. She introduced me to Turkish drama that she loved. My first employer who died within the first year I had come to Israel taught me how to make new recipes like yalanchi. Everytime I prepare or eat those dishes, I think about her. My current employer who I have been working with for 11 years has been hospitalised since the last few years, and my only role is to keep company throughout the day. Her health has deteriorated, and she relies on machines to keep her alive including for food, so I do not have any caregiving role as such, other than to provide her moral support and company. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/caring-for-her-own-and-others-ho4nidzs">Caring for her own and others</a>, Shyam Kala Rai I tell her about what is going on, and I know she understands me based on her gestures. The hospital provides all the care she needs, but her family has insisted that I stay because they say my companionship makes a visible impact on her health and morale. She turns 99 next week. She will be my last employer. After this, I will be spending time with my own family. I have visited my son in the US for a month, and it felt like I had really laughed from the heart for the first time since his father’s passing. We talked, and I cooked for him. I plan to do more of that in the coming days, as we have to make up for lost time. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231012111044_93b1cb9cc3b3643bfa05c635fe364a09e87395f05b364ac52c2c9a2a7c773189.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20231012111044_93b1cb9cc3b3643bfa05c635fe364a09e87395f05b364ac52c2c9a2a7c773189" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis in Israel Hamas attack NT 1"> <figcaption>Prabha Ghimire spent some time with her in the US. </figcaption> </figure>  In my years in Israel, sirens have been common. You rush to the bunker to hide every time it goes off. But this week was unlike anything I have experienced before. In life, you can never say what will happen next. The fact that a young man from Nepal in his 20s is lying in a hospital thousands of miles away from family after surviving such a horrific attack that killed his friends shows just how unpredictable life can be.&nbsp; Diaspora Diaries is a regular column in Nepali Times providing a platform to share experiences of living, working, studying abroad. Authentic and original entries can be sent to <a href="mailto:editors@nepalitimes.com">editors@nepalitimes.com</a> with Diaspora Diaries in the subject line.

Bringing Nepal to Israel

This is the 43rd instalment of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/diaspora-diaries">Diaspora Diaries</a>, a regular series in Nepali Times with stories of Nepalis living and working abroad.&nbsp; It was a Saturday morning. Tired from the week’s work in the farm, we were looking forward to resting and catching up with families back home. It had been just over a month since we arrived in Israel. But early morning at 5am on 7 October, we were woken up by earthquake-like jolts. We rushed outside, and there were missiles streaking across the sky and explosions.&nbsp; We found it all very exciting at first, but when the sirens went off we got worried and ruished to our little bunker to hide. There we started getting frantic calls from fellow Nepali students at Kibbutz Alumim which was 18km away. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepalis-confirmed-killed-in-hamas-attack">Nepalis confirmed killed in Hamas attack</a> They video called us and asked for help. They said there was an explosion in their bunker and blood everywhere. Our hands trembled as we called our college representative, but the whole area was under attack and there was no way any ambulance could make it in. Later, even our wifi and electricity got cut off, and we could not get in touch with our friends or anyone else. When the internet was restored in the evening, we found out that 17 of our friends at Alumim had also taken shelter in a bunker, but had come under attack from terrorists. &nbsp; We had arrived in Israel just a month before under the ‘Learn and Earn’ program. We were just settling in and getting a hang of things. The first three weeks were spent just getting used to the desert environment in southern Israel. At the farm, it was long hours of manual work sorting, grading and packaging onions.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231011091012_804eb8439329e3c3b7a284e5875d7b716304d2c846e3b1f10094de617f72490b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20231011091012_804eb8439329e3c3b7a284e5875d7b716304d2c846e3b1f10094de617f72490b" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis killed in Israel Hamas attack NT"> </figure>  In the bunker that first day, I was worried that my family was worried about me because I could not go my weekly call. Had my parents and brother back in Nepal found out <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepalis-confirmed-killed-in-hamas-attack" target="_blank">what has happened in Israel?</a> My silence could have made them assume the worst. The minute I got a chance, I called them to let them know I was safe. In the three days we spent in the bunker, it was difficult to speak to my family to describe the situation. I would feel overwhelmed and tearful when they asked how I was doing. I could not tell them everything that was really going on because they would panic. I am okay, don’t worry was all I could come up with. After that, I preferred just to exchange text messages.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/war-in-israel-earthquake-and-grief-in-nepal">War in Israel, earthquake and grief in Nepal</a> In that bunker after being woken up by sirens, I remember writing a note on my phone describing the situation since sleep was out of the question.&nbsp; अहिले यहाँ इजरायलमा कति बेला के हुन्छ, केही आतो पतो छैन। हामी साथीहरु विगत शनिबार देखि निरन्तर २ दिनसम्म बंकरमा लुकेर आफ्नो ज्यान जोगाउन बाँधे भाको छम्। यहाँ सोचें जस्तो सहज केही पनि छैन। कति बेला आकासमा कालो धुवाँको मुस्लो उठ्छ थाहा नै हुन्न। निकै नै त्रसित माहोल छ मिसाईलहरु कति बेला का बाट आयो पातो पाइनँ। साईरनको त्यो ठूलो अनि भैंकर आवाजले सतो पुत्लो लिन्छ। आकाश मा हेलिकप्टर अनि फाईटर जेटहरु निरन्तर उडिरहेका छन्। बंकरमा पनि सोचें जस्तै सहज केही छैन् , न खाना न पनि अनि त्यो चिसो भुईमा यो लामो रात त्रासै त्रासमा नसुती बिताउनु कुनै नर्कमा नै भाको अनुभूति हुन्छ। आजको रात निकै लामो हुने छ। पर्खाई त्यो भोलि शुभ विहानीको छ। (Here in Israel, we have no idea what will happen next. Since Saturday we have been trying to stay alive for the past two days in this bunker. Anything can happen at any time, without warning there are black smoke trails of approaching missiles. The loud wail of sirens is frightening. Fighter jets and helicopters are flying all the time. In the cold floor of the bunker, there is no food, no water and in the long and scary sleepless night it feels like hell. This is going to be a long night. We are just waiting for good tidings in the morning.)  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231011091012_aebca7aaddc14d0864807b73d2a55bf802f4be4fee111f8d8ee34a929d350867.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20231011091012_aebca7aaddc14d0864807b73d2a55bf802f4be4fee111f8d8ee34a929d350867" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1536" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis killed in Israel Hamas attack NT"> </figure>  The farm dogs are also scared, and join us the in the bunker. We first thought we should chase them out since they might bark and draw attention to us, instead we welcomed their companionship and they slept next to us. &nbsp; In the morning we called everyone that we could think of: the Nepal Embassy, government back home, everyone. Sometimes, we had to step out of the bunker to make calls. The response was not so proactive, so we started sharing videos on social media to draw more attention, hoping for some action. When we first got the call from the embassy to get ready, we were thrilled. They told us to just pack our documents and laptops. We left all our luggage behind. We even called our families to tell them we were coming home. But that day no one came to receive us and we waited in vain. It meant another long scary night in the cold bunker.&nbsp; Finally, help came the next day and 32 of us from different farms were escorted by the Israel Army out of the <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=netivot+israel&amp;client=safari&amp;sca_esv=572016509&amp;rls=en&amp;sxsrf=AM9HkKmL6INThh6fvozKNX7AhMsqGhk5Aw:1696891421452&amp;ei=HYIkZaOlG8iUseMP1ZW16AY&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjjp5eTheqBAxVISmwGHdVKDW0Q4dUDCA8&amp;uact=5&amp;oq=netivot+israel&amp;gs_lp=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&amp;sclient=gws-wiz-serp#fpstate=ive&amp;vld=cid:f2f00253,vid:5dHF5sPLYCI,st:0" target="_blank">Netivot</a> area to safety. Leaving behind our belongings, we came to <a href="http://global-learner.com/negev/" target="_blank">Ramat Negev farm</a> which is where we are at now. Being away from yesterday’s place feels a lot safer. This is far from the war zone and out in the desert near the Egypt border without many residential buildings. We thought we would be brought to Tel Aviv but instead, here we are for the time being.&nbsp; Finally, we realise how the accumulated stress and fatigue of the last three days has worn us out. There was fear from constant sounds of sirens and explosions, and the urgent need to coordinate with different agencies for our rescue, assure our families we were okay. Most importantly, we grieved the friends we lost. Our friend Bipin is still missing, there is no news about him.&nbsp; Here at the farm, besides us Nepalis there are other colleagues from Thailand and Zimbabwe. After what feels like ages, we finally got to eat warm food which felt good and made us happy, that too in the company of friends. We are spending time talking, trying to recover and gain back our energy.&nbsp; We are in touch with our families who are also relieved that we are away from the frontline. But they are desperate for us to come home. And so are we. Although we are relatively safe here, there is still uncertainty, what if the war spreads to where we are and something goes wrong again. What if things escalate?&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231011091012_88fece4158ae2bf08eb19317f58828c4273f09f9e54302e476832851d839c54b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20231011091012_88fece4158ae2bf08eb19317f58828c4273f09f9e54302e476832851d839c54b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1080" height="1434" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis killed in Israel Hamas attack NT"> </figure>  We want to return to Nepal, and need to be rescued as soon as possible. They should not wait for things to normalise to rescue us. If things get back to normal, we can come back by ourselves.&nbsp; What I wrote last night was in an empty stomach about waiting for good tidings in the morning.&nbsp; पर्खाइ त्यो भोलीको शुभ बिहानी नेपालमा देख्ने रहर छ ।&nbsp; (Today, I write: in a full stomach and in company of friends in a relatively safe area, I try to get some sleep waiting for tomorrow morning, and the yearning to be back home in Nepal.&nbsp; Diaspora Diaries is a regular column in Nepali Times providing a platform to share experiences of living, working, studying abroad. Authentic and original entries can be sent to <a href="mailto:editors@nepalitimes.com">editors@nepalitimes.com</a> with Diaspora Diaries in the subject line.

A Nepali’s lucky escape from Hamas

These are the individual tragedies of some of the 10 Nepalis killed in the Hamas attack on Saturday. Seven of those killed and one missing were from Far-western Nepal and were among 49 agriculture undergrads from Sudurpaschim University in Tikapur selected for the Israel government’s <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepalis-learn-and-earn-from-israel">‘earn and learn’ program</a>. They were all working at Kibbutz Alumim near the Gaza border, and were killed in two separate attacks by Hamas fighters on bunkers near the farm. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepalis-confirmed-killed-in-hamas-attack">Nepalis confirmed killed in Hamas attack</a>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231010131028_6c18a47f287bb925e313df2621bde383ffa21267b5b27ae64d0c46261af48f0e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20231010131028_6c18a47f287bb925e313df2621bde383ffa21267b5b27ae64d0c46261af48f0e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="200" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis killed in Israel Hamas attack NT"> </figure>  Dipesh Raj Bista Dipesh Raj Bista, 24, was hiding in a bunker with other Nepali students at Kibbutz Alumim. One of the students, Ganesh Nepali of Bajhang, had to go to the restroom and had just stepped out of the door when he was gunned down by Hamas militants outside. Eye witness Pramod KC who survived the attack said Dipesh then also went out of the door with his hands in the air, shouting “Don’t shoot, we are Nepali!” But he was also felled in a hail of automatic gunfire. The militants then lobbed two grenades into the bunker. Another Nepali, Bipin Joshi from Dhangadi threw one of the grenades out, but the other one exploded killing and injuring the remaining Nepalis. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Dipesh was from the village of Lekum in Darchula, and like the others was an undergrad at the Sudupaschim University in Tikapur. He was the sole support of the family after his father Ashok died of cancer. His mother Parbati fainted on hearing the news and has been admitted to hospital. “He used to call our mother every evening,” Dipesh’s sister Mamata recalled. “But when we called him on Saturday we could not reach him and started getting really worried.” Mamata remembers her younger brother as being brilliant and studious. He wanted to earn money to pay for their younger brother who is now enrolled in the MBBS program in Dharan. &nbsp;&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231010131040_0b44f6584a1b6d193fa64a9800513594c2505a9867c25e4cde60fd6fef7aef0c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20231010131040_0b44f6584a1b6d193fa64a9800513594c2505a9867c25e4cde60fd6fef7aef0c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="200" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis killed in Israel Hamas attack NT"> </figure>  Padam Thapa Padam got a fond farewell when he left his home in Doti for Israel last month. Friends and relatives wished him good luck in social media posts. Western Nepal had just suffered an earthquake, and his sister-in-law Mekhu Adhikari had told him in a call that there had been scary aftershocks. Adhikari hung up and got busy at work, so she had no time to look at her phone. But when she did, there was a short text message from Padam: ‘I am dying, bhauju.’ She tried calling back but could not reach him. Then she heard on the news that Nepali students had been caught up in the Hamas attack on Israel.&nbsp; Padam’s father Tikaram, 65, has hypertension, and had to be hospitalised as soon as he heard the news that his son was among the dead. Padam was the youngest of the four siblings, and the most enterprising and cheerful.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231010131044_deba0e01aa26526221db8c83552634459ae6cd101d72b124df4d41f12967c9f2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20231010131044_deba0e01aa26526221db8c83552634459ae6cd101d72b124df4d41f12967c9f2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="200" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis killed in Israel Hamas attack NT"> </figure>  Ganesh Nepali The last time Ganesh called from Israel on Friday evening, he was worried that the epicenter of the earthquake that had just struck western Nepal was in his home district of Bajhang, and he told his elder brother Bikash to take care of their parents and stay safe.&nbsp; The family house had been damaged in the earthquake, but it was Ganesh who was soon going to be in a dangerous situation. Hours after that call, Bikash got news of the attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel. When he found Ganesh’s name on the Nepal Embassy list of 10 fatalities, he was unable to immediately tell their parents and other siblings. The family is in shock that this happened to Ganesh just a month after he was selected to go to Israel. He was a bright agriculture undergraduate student in Tikapur. Bikash used to always help Ganesh with his homework, and had been a guardian to him. Ganesh was studying to specialise in tissue culture.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231010131048_5d263684dfb6ec181c008689546f46fe8d17251e2b9fc691d8cc4deaca26991c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20231010131048_5d263684dfb6ec181c008689546f46fe8d17251e2b9fc691d8cc4deaca26991c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="200" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis killed in Israel Hamas attack NT 8"> </figure>  Ashish Chaudhary Kanaiyalal Chaudhary, 70, still vividly remembers the excitement in his grandson Ashish’s voice when he called him from Kathmandu airport last month, saying he was about board his flight to Israel. Twenty-five year old Ashish’s parents work in Bangalore, and he was taking care of his grandfather who in turn had taken care of him single-handedly since childhood in his village in Kailali. Kanaiyalal’s wife had died earlier, and his daughter is paralysed. &nbsp; Ashish was excited about learning new farming techniques in arid regions while in Israel and to apply some of those skills in Nepal when he returned in 11 months.&nbsp; Ashish Chaudhary was among 13 Nepalis who survived a previous Hamas grenade attack on a bunker, and had sought shelter in another nearby bunker along with 20 Thai workers. Suddenly, Hamal militants stormed that bunker also. They took away seven Thais along with one of the Nepalis, Bipin Joshi, and sprayed the rest with bullets and lobbed several grenades. Ashish was killed on the spot along with five other Nepalis. The elderly Kaniyalal is immersed in grief. He had raised Ashish singlehandedly, and feels the loss deeply. His wish is to be able to see his grandson one time before performing his last rites. Between sobs, he tells us, “What do I have to live for now? Why didn’t death take me instead of my grandson?”&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231010131024_391c7d95ede961861b088b378b85345496bf344d835d10cb277c821c6b88b0ca.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20231010131024_391c7d95ede961861b088b378b85345496bf344d835d10cb277c821c6b88b0ca" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="400" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis killed in Israel Hamas attack NT"> </figure>  Rajan Phulara Before he had left for Israel, 23-year-old Rajan Phulara of Shikhar Municipality in Doti had dreams of coming back home and applying for the Civil Service exam. Rajan became one of the 10 Nepalis confirmed dead in the Hamas attack on southern Israel near Gaza this week. Phulara was among the BSc Agriculture students from Sudur Paschim University who had flown to Israel for the Learn and Earn 11-months internship program. Only a week ago, during a video call with his uncle Rajendra Phulara, he had shared his plans for when he would be back in Nepal. “I’m going to learn new things here but I will implement them in my country, after my civil service exam,” Rajendra, who works at Doti Hospital, recalls his nephew telling him. During the call, Rajan had turned the camera around towards Gaza. “That right there is Gaza,” he had said. “There can be an attack any time, we have been told to seek shelter in a bunker if there is one.” It was in one of those bunkers that Rajan together with Ashish Chaudhary (see above) and four others were gunned down by Hamas militants. Rajan’s father Ghyanshyam fainted on being told of his son’s death. He had taken loans to fund his son's higher studies.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231010131028_f6d6974b69ccb7960897a5a48390b832029103b8ceb7de6b8edb51d3f6c98433.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20231010131028_f6d6974b69ccb7960897a5a48390b832029103b8ceb7de6b8edb51d3f6c98433" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="200" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis killed in Israel Hamas attack NT"> </figure>  Lokendra Singh Dhami The remote and tiny village of Malikarjun in Darchula district is in shock. Neighbours have all crowded to the house of Lokendra Singh Ghami, 24 who was among the agriclutre students selected to go to Israel for a year of study-work. Like the others, Lokendra’s wife had spoken to him on Friday and he was high spirits, asking about his five-year-old daughter and two-year-old son. Dhami’s brother is in the Nepal Army, and by coincidence is posted at the UN Peacekeeping contingent in Lebanon at the moment. Already shocked by Lokendra’s death, his parents are now also worried about their other son. Local government authorities have tried to console the family, and said they will ensure that the body will be brought home soon. A family that was preparing for Dasain festival, and the entire village, is now in deep mourning. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231010131036_e528a63b6a43ed2687d47866e421b046c663f8a12f04eb40e41ef72a4a96672e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20231010131036_e528a63b6a43ed2687d47866e421b046c663f8a12f04eb40e41ef72a4a96672e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="200" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis killed in Israel Hamas attack NT"> </figure>  Narayan Prasad Neupane &nbsp; Hari Krishna, Narayan Prasad Neupane’s 70-year-old father, keeps losing consciousness ever since he was told his young son is dead. Narayan had lost his mother at age 5 and was very close to his father. A friendly boy, Naryan was also good in studies, and his elder brother and his wife were working in Bangalore so the family could afford to send him to a good college. “He used to say he wanted to contribute to Nepal’s progress by bringing new farming skills from Israel,” his sister Manju recalled. “He was very passionate about agriculture. We want to see him one last time, that is all we want from the government.” Shocked neighbours have crowded around the Neupanes’ simple wooden house for support.&nbsp; Translated from reports by Khagendra Bahadur Singh, Paramnanda Pandey, Shivaraj Bhatta, Sundar Singh Dhami, Mahadeya Awasti, Pratap Oli from Paschim Today, Dhangadi. <a href="https://paschimtoday.com/" target="_blank">https://paschimtoday.com</a>

War in Israel, earthquake and grief in Nepal

Fenerbahçe Beko won the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague finals in Abu Dhabi, held 23-25 May, defeating Monaco 81-70 in the final. Olympiacos, who defeated Panathinaikos 97-93, finished the series in third place. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the final match, Nigel Hayes-Davis from Fenerbahçe Beko, received a prize of 1,000,000 Miles&amp;Smiles from Turkish Airlines’ Chief Commercial Officer Ahmet Olmuştur. The carrier has been the title sponsor of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, a top tier tournament, since 2010.

Turkish Basketball

Thousands of Nepali students dreaming of an American education have been forced to look elsewhere as the Trump administration’s visa restrictions make their future uncertain.
The US was long considered a top destination for higher studies, making Nepal the 10th biggest country of origin for international students in America.&nbsp;
However, that number has seen a significant decline with the total for Nepali students now at 16,482. Some 8,000 Nepali students obtained no-objection certificates to study in the US from the Ministry of Education in the past year.&nbsp;
India, Australia, Canada, South Korea, United Kingdom and Japan are the other popular destinations for Nepali students. There are no clear numbers for Nepalis going to India, but a slight decline was noted this year after the deaths of two female students.
The US State Department has issued a circular to its embassies not to issue new visas to applicants until further notice. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the directive stated that the department planned to expand the screening of applicants' social media.&nbsp;
While new applicants are barred including those applying for visitor visas, students with scheduled interviews are allowed to proceed.
“Many of our students are affected by the new restrictions, but those who had applied for student visas earlier have got interview dates,” one Kathmandu-based college counsellor told us.
Meanwhile, even foreign students with spotless records already in the US have not been spared, as visa scrutiny intensifies under the new policy. In a move that underscores the growing sense of insecurity, many US colleges advised international students to carry their passports and documents at all times, even when traveling locally.
“Me and my friends did not go home this summer because we were not sure we would be allowed back, so we just went to Niagara Falls,” said a Nepali undergrad in Ohio, who like many interviewed for this report did not want her name used for fear of repercussion.
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Nepali students have adopted a cautious stance, with many choosing not to return home during summer vacation due to fear of visa revocations as well as travel bans. Meanwhile, over 7,000 Nepalis with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will have to come back to Nepal by 5 August or face deportation. Thirty-seven were flown back to Kathmandu on Omni Air last week.
“The US is one of the most sought-after destinations for higher education, and the ban will definitely impact bright students,” says Narottam Aryal of the King’s College in Kathmandu.
Indeed, Nepali undergraduates admitted into Ivy League colleges for the 2025 academic year have been asked to look for alternatives. The entire Fulbright Foreign Scholarships Board resigned on Wednesday citing interference from the Trump administration on the selection of this year’s cohort. Some Nepali students already on Fulbright scholarships have noted disruptions, delays and even cancellation of stipends.&nbsp;
The student visa restrictions were initially just for foreign students admitted to Harvard University, but it was later extended to all Chinese students and now to all students. Universities like Columbia which actively recruit foreign students, face sharp enrolment declines, threatening their financial stability and diversity.
An Indian female PhD candidate at Columbia University had her visa revoked by the US State Department, and said she was targeted on the basis of her social media posts on Israeli military attacks in Gaza. Social media vetting of political activism has raised concerns about privacy and freedom of expression in a country where such rights were a given.
Many students have been informed via email that their visas have been revoked for getting speeding or parking tickets, but even others with no criminal record have been affected. The fear of deportation looms large amongst international students, including those from Nepal.&nbsp;
For most Nepalis who migrate to the US for education, the journey is a high-stakes investment. They come largely from middle-class families, often rely on a patchwork of scholarships, work-study programs, loans, or even the sale of family assets to afford fees.
Most Nepali students pursue STEM subjects which offer extended Optional Practical Training (OPT) periods that help fund their education. But with the US backsliding on education and humanitarian matters, countries like the UK and Canada are becoming more attractive despite their own recent stricter controls on student visas.&nbsp;
The UK universities saw a 63% rise in Nepali students’ admissions in 2024. Japan is another popular destination with 64,816 Nepali students enrolled as of 2024.
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Already, China, Hong Kong and Malaysia are poised to benefit from the increased scrutiny of US student visas. Several Hong Kong universities are offering unconditional admission to affected students, while Malaysian institutions are targeting previously US-bound Asian students. China and India have 330,000 and 280,000 students respectively in America, but the numbers for China have seen a sharp drop in the past year.
Elsewhere, branch campuses of American institutions such as NYU in Abu Dhabi, Georgetown in Dubai and Northwestern in Doha are getting more admission applications, and universities in the Gulf region are expanding infrastructure to accommodate those who would otherwise have gone to the US.&nbsp;
Even educational institutions in Nepal are hopeful that the US visa restrictions can be an opportunity to at least keep Nepali undergrads in Nepal, and also attract foreign students from the region.&nbsp;
“Many students might choose to complete their undergraduate degree here in Nepal and then move abroad for their Master’s degree later,” says Aryal of King’s College. “There was a need for quality higher education in Nepal anyway in terms of innovation and opportunities, so this could be the time to reduce our dependence on other countries.”
Nepal’s strategic position between India and China makes it sensitive to US policy shifts. India, a key ally, is also under US scrutiny for potential student travel restrictions. Chinese universities are already offering more scholarships to Nepali talent to capitalise on the US retreat.
American universities have challenged student visa restrictions in the courts. A federal court in Boston revoked the blanket ban on Harvard, and the State Department has ordered the resumption of processing student and exchange visitor visas.&nbsp;
Some are still hoping that President Trump will backtrack on the student visa restrictions, just like he has done with many of his more drastic executive orders.
Even so, the visa see-saw and longer-term uncertainties about living in the United States and its education system means students across the world are making alternative plans.
Says Aryal: “Policies of foreign countries change according to their needs, so excessive dependence was never a good idea. We should work to create different opportunities and choices of higher education within Nepal, so students are retained.” &nbsp;

America no longer prime destination for Nepali students

While Nepal was hosting the Sagarmatha Sambaad international climate conference in Kathmandu this month, on Mt Everest it was pretty much business as usual.&nbsp; The signs of climate breakdown are all there: a river now runs through Base Camp in summer, the Khumbu Icefall is more unstable, and there are more &nbsp;frequent avalanches. When expeditions arrived in March, the mountains were bare: it had not snowed since September, but then blizzards dumped unseasonal snow in May. And despite climate worries, such is the pull of Himalayan mountaineering that the Everest Industry showed no signs of slowdown. More than 600 international climbers and their Nepali guides had made it to the summit of the world’s highest mountain. At one point there were an estimated 2,000 people in the tent city on the Khumbu Glacier. All the ropes and ladders on the Icefall came down on Thursday, marking the official end of the spring climbing season, and just in time to avoid a monsoon cyclone approaching from the Bay of Bengal. It has been an action-packed season. One factor could be that Everest fees will go up from September: each foreign climber needs to pay a $15,000 royalty, up from the present $11,000. The cost for a Nepali climber on the South Col route will also go up: from Rs75,000 to Rs150,000.&nbsp; The fee to climb Everest in autumn is $7,500 (up from $5,500), but most climbers still prefer spring. Winter permit fee (December-February) is only $3,750 per person and the mountain is now also open for monsoon (June-August) climbs, when the fee is ever lower at $2,750. The revised rule also makes it mandatory for every two climbers on an 8,000m peak to hire one Nepali mountain guide.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025053004050_67f856fe52714e4bdcf21ae7d45c6f18c82117b9d0a5f73ed1efa04c96de1046.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2025053004050_67f856fe52714e4bdcf21ae7d45c6f18c82117b9d0a5f73ed1efa04c96de1046" data-rendition-name="original" width="931" height="732" loading="lazy" alt="The Everest Industry graph 1"> </figure>  In addition, climbers also have to pay for porters and guides, equipment, Base Camp costs, Ice Fall and fixed rope team fees, so climbing Everest does not come cheap. But such is the draw of climbing the world’s highest peak that some say the increased fees will not diminish the crowds next year. The government has tried to spread expeditions out to other seasons and other 8,000ers, but with not much success. Earlier this year, Nepal unilaterally increased the number of 8,000m peaks to 14 by adding six more sub-summits to broaden the choice for climbers. Added were: Yalung Kang (8,505m), Yalung Kang West (8,077m) &nbsp;Kangchenjunga Central (8,473m), Kangchenjunga South (8,476m), Lhotse Middle (8,410m) and Lhotse Shar (8,400m).&nbsp; The announcement could go against the accepted topographic criteria that a stand alone peak has to be at least 300m higher than an adjoining prominence, and at more than 3km isolation from it. The UIAA (Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme) still recognises only 14 mountains as eight-thousanders, and only eight of those are in Nepal, or on the border with China. Nepal’s revised mountaineering regulations also increased the insurance coverage of high-altitude workers to protect porters and high altitude guides who usually take more risks on the mountains. Rescue teams and clean-up campaigners to collect trash and remove bodies of dead climbers up to Camp IV of Mt Everest do not need permits.&nbsp; The Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee is now using drones to fly down trash in 20kg sacks. Each climber is also required to bring down at least 6kg of waste and not just their own, but this rule is erratically enforced. With five fatalities on Everest and Lhotse, Spring 2025 had a historically low death toll. Another five climbers died on Annapurna, Kangchenjunga and Makalu.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025053004050_38681de22f0fefb6faa12b01755566d09c5064d0ff84e12ccc7b5d68ea9ba38a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2025053004050_38681de22f0fefb6faa12b01755566d09c5064d0ff84e12ccc7b5d68ea9ba38a" data-rendition-name="original" width="665" height="740" loading="lazy" alt="The Everest industry graph 2"> </figure>  Journalist Ben Ayers who ran the Everest Live social media channel from Everest Base Camp with daily updates credited the low death rate to dramatic rescues of climbers from the ‘Death Zone’ by their Nepali guides and longline helievacs — the visuals all uploaded on YouTube.&nbsp; “Ironically, this perception of safety is bringing more and more inexperienced climbers to the mountain, and they need more rescues,” Ayers said in one of his dispatches.&nbsp; American expedition chronicler and summiteer Alan Arnette suspects there is a lot of under-reporting given that the jet stream and storms were lashing Everest even till late in the season. He told us: “I heard a lot about frostbite and rescues that were not made public. It’s become practically impossible to cover the details on Everest. All the teams report nice news, and they don’t talk about bad stuff to avoid hurting businesses.” Although trash on Nepal’s mountains makes headlines, what does not receive as much attention is the climate impact of so many expeditions. The Sagarmatha Sambaad conference sidestepped this issue, which is ironic given that the impact of climate breakdown is most evident on Himalayan peaks and their glaciers.&nbsp; <h2>Need for Speed</h2> The big stories this year have been about speed-running from their home cities to the top of Everest. Ukrainian entrepreneur Andrew Ushakov flew out of JFK on 15 May at 10:15AM Nepal time, and was on the summit 3 days, 23 hours, and 7 minutes later on 19 May at 9:22AM.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250601080640_1c5cc6fc991307861768f07037ed9d30930fb20f35dbb57dc31c9a92a9e1a885.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250601080640_1c5cc6fc991307861768f07037ed9d30930fb20f35dbb57dc31c9a92a9e1a885" data-rendition-name="original" width="1440" height="1800" loading="lazy" alt="The Everest Industry"> <figcaption>Andrew Ushakov at the summt. Photo: ELITE EXPED</figcaption> </figure>  “I could never find the time for the traditional 40-50 days of acclimatisation,” Ushakov explained matter-of-factly. His ‘Everest Sea-to-Summit’ climb was possible because he spent 400 hours in hypoxic sleep tents over the past four years in New York. However, Ushakov did use ropes already fixed, hired four Nepali guides, helicoptered to Base Camp, and used much more oxygen than an average climber. And after the climb, Ushakov was arrested at Kathmandu airport for being in possession of $20,000 of undeclared cash and spent a night in jail and fined $60,000.&nbsp; The other speedsters were Garth Miller, Alastair Cairns, Anthony Stazicker, and Kev Godlington, all former British Army commandos. They left London and summited five days later on 21 May, and flew right back. They also used hypoxic tents to simulate the thin air high on Everest.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250601080644_90c8dd5cc07b4b43f2989b1dc0c0650ab80f10ebb06680c25a6909c519957bd8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20250601080644_90c8dd5cc07b4b43f2989b1dc0c0650ab80f10ebb06680c25a6909c519957bd8" data-rendition-name="original" width="810" height="668" loading="lazy" alt="The Everest Industry "> <figcaption>All four members of the Furtenbach team at the summit. Photo: Sandro Gromen-Hayes</figcaption> </figure>  But more controversial was their use of xenon gas therapy in a German hospital to ramp up the production of oxygen-carrying haemoglobins in their blood. Xenon is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency for being performance enhancing in sports. Expedition leader Lukas Furtenbach said this rule does not apply to mountaineering, as it is not a regulated sport like swimming. Nepal has no rules about xenon, but the Department of Tourism said it was launching an ‘investigation’ to decide on future policy since it is difficult to ban xenon, but allow oxygen. The controversy has also divided the mountaineering community, with some climbers saying they just want to maximise their chances of survival. Spending less time on the mountain could make climbing safer by reducing avalanche risk. It would also mean less trash on the mountains, but it would reduce the income of Nepal’s expedition industry. It is also unclear how much of the success was due to xenon therapy and whether the ex-special forces were already in good physical shape.&nbsp; The need for speed hides the fact that climbing in the Himalaya is dangerous business, and climbers cannot sprint to the top just by huffing xenon. But ultra-fast climbs could be charged more, and the revenue generated can be used to establish state-of-the-art rescue operations, and increase pay and insurance for guides. Two other speed chasers this season were Swiss-Ecuadorian Karl Egloff and American Tyler Andrews, both on Everest without oxygen. Andrews choppered to Base Camp to catch a weather window, but turned back from 8,500m due to high winds. Heavy snow and wind also forced Egloff to descend from 7,000m. Slow and steady climbers like Anja Blacha from Germany did make it to the summit without oxygen, while Kami Rita Sherpa broke his own record with his 31st Everest summit as he led a 26-strong Indian Army group. There were 468 permits issued for foreign climbers from 48 expeditions to Everest this spring. Nepal’s other eight-thousanders together had only 17 expeditions. Nepal has more than 1,000 peaks above 6,000m, and has opened only 476 of them for climbing.&nbsp;

The Everest Industry

While Nepal marked <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/mt-everest-pvt-ltd">Mt Everest</a> Day on 29 May, on the other side of the planet in the US state of Colorado dozens of Nepalis who have climbed the world’s highest peak multiple times were busy working as chefs and Uber drivers. Among them is Nima Doma Sherpa, who climbed Mt Everest in 2019 after her husband Tshering Wangchu was among 16 crushed by an avalanche on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/on-thin-ice-in-the-khumbu">the Khumbu Icefall</a> five years earlier. A large serac broke off the West Shoulder of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-everest-industry">Mt Everest </a>and fell directly on a group of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/more-porters-sick-on-everest-trail">porters and guides</a> making their way up the Icefall at 5,800m. Their bodies were flown by helicopter to Khumjung where Tshering Wangchu was born. He was excited about climbing Mt Everest for the first time.&nbsp; In Khumjung, Nima Doma felt like her own life had also ended. This was the kind of news Sherpa wives, mothers and sisters dreaded every <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/peak-climbing-season-2025-s4abrxny">mountaineering season</a>. She stayed home for more than two years grieving, but ultimately gathered up all her emotional strength to take care of her 6-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter. Nima had grown up in Khumjung hearing <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/stories-of-nepal-s-summiteers">tales of adventure on the mountains </a>from their father, Ang Chubi Sherpa who had climbed Everest in 1993. He used to bring her and her sisters and brother European chocolates after every expedition, and used to tell them that the chocolate bars grew on the mountains. “It was only after we got older did we realise that he told us that chocolates grew in the mountains so we would not worry about him putting himself in harm's way,” Nima Doma recalled with a faraway look at her home in Boulder this week. Nima went to the school that <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/commemorating-edmund-hillary-in-nepal,4145">Edmund Hillary</a> opened in Khumjung till Grade 8, and then dropped out to help in the kitchen and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/when-yaks-go-so-does-culture">tend yaks</a>. She was married off to Tshering Wangchu, who was also a high altitude guide. When Tshering went on expeditions, Nima also started working as a porter from Namche to Base Camp. It was perhaps her father’s tales of mountains of chocolates that had always attracted her to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/knowing-our-mountains-43v4iyvo">the peaks</a>. After her husband was killed ten years ago this month, being a widow with children was not easy for Nima Doma. But she was not alone: there were at least 200 single mothers in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/khumbu-since-1950-jaww4qn0">the Khumbu</a>, and 20 of them just in Khumjung whose husbands had been killed in <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/tragic-start-to-himalayan-spring-nepal,3695">mountaineering accidents</a>. Some were not even 20 years old, and had children growing up without fathers. But there were also women in the 50s whose husbands had been killed in the 1980s. Nima found sponsors for her children’s education, and moved to Kathmandu. In the capital, Sherpa widows used to meet to help each other. Some of them had joined the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) training for rock and ice climbing. “I decided that it was no use sitting home and crying anymore, after meeting other single mothers I felt less alone,” remembers Nima, who joined the Juniper Foundation and enrolled in an NMA training camp in Manang. There she climbed Chulu East (6,584m) and met Furadiki Sherpa, whose rope-fixing husband had also been <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/on-mt-everest-s-70th-records-and-fatalities">killed on Everest</a> in 2013. They set themselves the goal of climbing Everest one day, and started a fund-raising drive.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250530090544_621be0724b9182c8e3594b2c562a71ec32ac01d985a71d0cf31646de9d51e15a.png" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20250530090544_621be0724b9182c8e3594b2c562a71ec32ac01d985a71d0cf31646de9d51e15a" data-rendition-name="original" width="2678" height="1274" loading="lazy" alt="Everest summiteers find new life in the US"> </figure>  “We decided we had to overcome society’s stigma of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/widows-personal-happiness-comes-last-in-face-of-social-financial-hardships,1855">widowhood</a> and prove that <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/remembering-junko-tabei">women could also climb mountains</a>,” Nima said, adding that she was inspired by Nepal’s first woman Everest summiteer Pasang Lhamu Sherpa, who died during her descent in 1993. Nima Doma and Furdiki climbed the technically-difficult Ama Dablam (6,812m) and then arrived at Everest Base Camp in April 2019 as part of their Two Widows Expedition with the motto, ‘So Can We’. While climbing up the Icefall Nima passed the spot where her husband had been killed. It was a jumble of constantly-shifting ice blocks bigger than houses. She closed her eyes and said a prayer. “I remember thinking, this is so difficult and dangerous. This is what my husband had to do to support our family,” Nima Doma said. “I was determined to fulfil my husband’s dream of climbing Chomolungma, and to prove to ourselves that we two women could do it.” It was 23 May 2019 when <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/world/two-sherpa-widows-scale-everest-and-smash-stigma-idUSKCN1SU0MV/" target="_blank">Nima and Furdiki stepped on the summit</a> and looked over into Tibet, and down at Tengboche Monastery to the south.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250530090544_6b822582b5d88ba5e972db084f184690b40653c6efd9901b2dd082ffba2a263b.png" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="20250530090544_6b822582b5d88ba5e972db084f184690b40653c6efd9901b2dd082ffba2a263b" data-rendition-name="original" width="2700" height="1522" loading="lazy" alt="Everest summiteers find new life in the US"> </figure>  Nima Doma hugged Furdiki, took off her mask and wept. But for the first time in five years, it was not from grief but relief — relief for being free of all the sadness and sacrifices and for fulfilling her husband’s dream. They had found <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/life-after-death">life after death</a>. “I felt this immense joy to be on top of the world, it was indescribable,” Nima Doma said, “I have wept only twice in my life. Once when my husband died, and once there on top of Everest.” The tears had frozen on Nima Doma’s cheeks, as she and Furdiki headed back down the mountain.