This is the 70th episodes of Diaspora Diaries, a Nepali Times series in collaboration with Migration Lab providing a platform to share experiences of living, working and studying abroad. I was lucky to be supported by a German couple when I was a student in Ramechhap because I was a bright student with good grades.&nbsp; They had interviewed me, and asked what I wanted to do in life. I remember replying that I want to return to my <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/starting-nepal-s-green-school-movement">village school</a> to teach English.&nbsp; For someone from my background to be supported financially right through to my Bachelor’s meant a lot. I could study comfortably without having to worry about whether I could afford the fees.&nbsp; Once I completed my undergraduate studies, my sponsors suggested I teach for two years back in my village after which they would again support me for my Master’s. In particular, they wanted me to train teachers and even gave me the first month’s salary and supplies. But going back to my village felt like I would be regressing, and I wanted to move forward in life. Despite my promise to my sponsors, the option did not appeal to me at all. I had my heart set outside Nepal.&nbsp; I went missing in action, and got in touch with my sponsors only when I reached the UAE. I explained my situation. Thankfully, they were very understanding and told me they just wanted me to do well in life, no matter what path I chose. I was relieved.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250710090732_7126ca73c5db3e72f7150e7cb6728aea726f04bafe24058a120691c4a9e6a61f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250710090732_7126ca73c5db3e72f7150e7cb6728aea726f04bafe24058a120691c4a9e6a61f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1084" loading="lazy" alt="Paying it forward NT"> <figcaption>Baraili with the German couple who paid for his Bachelor's, before and after (belowa). Baraili couldn't follow through with his promise of going back to his village to teach but supports the community in other ways.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250710090732_849a22eff09432de4ac56d82f034f407c75d18e71634f23f95bafdacc7e8f0e0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250710090732_849a22eff09432de4ac56d82f034f407c75d18e71634f23f95bafdacc7e8f0e0" data-rendition-name="original" width="720" height="540" loading="lazy" alt="Paying it forward NT"> </figure>  Working at a petrol pump in Abu Dhabi with a Bachelor’s degree was probably not ideal, but I do not have any regrets. I got a chance to see the world, meet different kinds of people. Back home, folks often look at <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/migrants-returning-from-the-gulf-with-infertility">Gulf countries</a> differently compared to those who migrate to the UK, Japan or Australia. But the UAE showed me the world. One thing that struck me was how Westerners who came to the petrol pump were kinder, and they treated me like an equal. Their mannerisms made me feel like we were all the same, just from different contexts. That made me dream of migrating to their part of the world one day. I recall how shocked a Yemeni customer was when he found out that I had an undergraduate degree. He was a supervisor, and used to come to our petrol pump with his employees. He himself was a school drop out, but had a job that paid him three times more than what I, with a degree, was making. He could not believe it.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-hard-working-students-overseas">Nepal’s hard working students overseas</a>, Sonia Awale But I had told myself this was a temporary phase, and did not let this dissuade me. I just needed to keep upgrading myself. In the two years I was in the UAE, I was able to support my family. Even more, I learnt to work within a system, interact with people from all over the world and be professional and independent. After two years, I returned to Nepal. While everyone invests <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/high-risk-remittance">overseas earnings</a> in land and houses, I decided not to do that because I needed that money to migrate again, this time to Europe. The UK was too expensive, so I went to Cyprus as a student. I worked in the hospitality sector, met many British clients and before I knew it, I landed in the UK.&nbsp; I pursued my Master’s degree, and on the side did a lot of odd jobs including as a delivery driver, waiter, security guard, and rose from a receptionist to operations manager at a hotel. My ten years in the UK till 2017 alternated between work permits and student visas pursuing two Master’s degrees before I finally got my permanent residency. After ten years of struggle, I remember telling my family members that getting the PR felt like Neil Armstrong landing on the moon. I have been able to help some of my relatives also migrate here including my niece and nephew who are now well settled. When one of us makes it, so do our family members.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250710090732_b4bd74ef7dc46094d6c23e2d5a1d9ae783ffe234367a95925002d119a8ac7ca8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250710090732_b4bd74ef7dc46094d6c23e2d5a1d9ae783ffe234367a95925002d119a8ac7ca8" data-rendition-name="original" width="720" height="540" loading="lazy" alt="Paying it forward NT"> <figcaption>Baraili spent over three years in Cyprus before heading to the UK.</figcaption> </figure>  I used to make deliveries from a restaurant run by an elderly Bangladeshi, and took over from him. Even though your responsibilities increase, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/reviving-nepal-s-craft">running your own business </a>also gives you freedom. I am now also working on my PhD on developing Nepal’s tourism sector. Back in 2000, when I went to the UAE to work in a petrol pump while my brother was already there working as a security guard. In fact, I told him I was also in the UAE after I got there.&nbsp; We used to meet up, but not as much as we would have liked as we lived two hours apart and were both busy. He stayed on for 20 years, while I left after two. He would have stayed even longer as he had a good job, but we decided he should go back to Nepal to take care of our ailing mother. It was not enough for us to just be able to support her financially in her last days, and I am grateful that one of us could be there close with her before she died. Looking back at the last 25 years, I am glad I chose not to go back to my village to teach after my Bachelor’s even though it may have felt like I let down my sponsors. A few years back, I got in touch with them again to pay them back for their generosity.&nbsp; But instead of paying them back, they wanted me to pay it forward. I currently support three students from the same high school in Ramechhap where my sponsors had found me. Two of them are doing their Bachelor’s and one is enrolled in a Health Assistant course. I support them with monthly contributions till they complete their degrees.&nbsp; Individuals from my village currently residing in the UK including those who attended the same primary school as I have also contributed to the school’s trust fund that helps support students.&nbsp; I did not go back to my village, but am finding ways to contribute even from the diaspora to pay back the generosity of the kind German couple who bet on me.&nbsp; One does not have to be present physically in one’s birthplace to give back. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/india-bound">The attachment to your roots</a> never goes away, no matter how far you are, or for how long.&nbsp; Perhaps that is why even today, when someone asks me where home is, I say Ramechhap. Not Kathmandu, and not the UK.

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Paying it forward

On 3 June I was woken up at 5:30am by a call from a Kuwait-based domestic worker. A common friend had put us in touch.
“Why are you up?” I asked Sharmila, knowing that it was close to 3 AM in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepalis-in-kuwait-apply-to-return-home">Kuwait</a>. She had just got off work. Yet, that was the least of her problems.
It was her first day at this new house, where she had arrived at 9pm. Her previous employer had not been good, so with much difficulty she had been ‘returned’ to the placement office that had brought her to Kuwait.
This time, she was hopeful things would be better. At the placement office, where she waited for three weeks, there were around two dozen ‘khadama’ like her from Nepal and Sri Lanka waiting to get placed in other houses. The Nepalis, she said, had come either on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/go-away">visit visas </a>through the UAE or through India to bypass the ban on domestic workers.
Sharmila herself had come via India. Regardless of which route they came from, they were legal since the Kuwaiti placement office that brought them are legally registered and workers had valid papers.
Meanwhile in Nepal, a ‘visit visa scandal’ has broken. The Centre for Investigation of the Abuse of Authority (CIAA) is investigating immigration officials, among others, over misuse of visit visas to facilitate human trafficking in exchange for big bribes.
There is <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/no-comment">social media outrage</a> in Nepal’s cybersphere, and calls for Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak’s resignation. That migrant workers travel on visit visas or via irregular routes such as India is well known. That there are ‘settings’ at airports with attached rates so everyone involved can get a cut is also open secret, and has always been.
A primary reason for the misuse of visit visas is the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/migrating-for-domestic-work" target="_blank">ban</a> on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/history-of-female-im-mobility-in-nepal" target="_blank">domestic workers</a>. To be sure, there are others who also use visit visas for short-term work since the government does not approve short-term labour permits no matter how lucrative the stint.
Nepalis traveling to countries like the US through unconventional routes, jobseekers keen to find employment in the destination country itself, or by recruiters who want to circumvent legal safeguards or because there are delays in paperwork.
The misuse of visit visas under the guise of tourism is a consequence of restrictive policies like the domestic worker <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/ban-the-ban" target="_blank">ban</a> ostensibly to protect them from abuse. And when there are massive profits involved, there is also little incentive to change. Persistent bans on overseas household work have lasted despite failure to contain migrants, and the unintended but predictable risks they put outgoing workers in.
In the government’s eyes, someone like Sharmila is non-existent as a migrant because she did not receive labour approval. Her agent is non-existent because she did not travel through a vetted recruitment agency in Nepal. Her employer is non-existent because they did not have to get the ‘demand’ attested at the Nepal Embassy.
All these details would have been well-documented had domestic workers been able to migrate regularly. Domestic or care work is already an invisible sector and the ban puts workers even more at risk from exploitation and abuse.
Meanwhile complicit recruiters and employers get a pass without any accountability. Only vetted recruiters who meet criteria that are stricter than that for regular worker recruitment should be allowed to arrange jobs abroad for domestic workers. Sharmila relied on an unauthorised individual agent who she never met in person, and who did not even turn on his camera when they had video calls.
The ban not only means that workers leave through irregular channels many are also inexperienced and unprepared. Talk to any <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/every-day-is-closer-to-pay-day" target="_blank">domestic worker</a>, especially new ones, and they will tell you how the first few months are the hardest. Modern home appliances are foreign to them and there are language barriers. As per the law, domestic workers have to go through mandatory training specifically designed for them which they are deprived of because of the ban.
“I have never taken care of babies in my life,” Sharmila said on the phone. “How will I take care of the children here?”
Women’s access to jobs, both in Nepal and overseas, needs attention. Sharmila, for example, said that she could not afford the Rs200,000 that was demanded for a cleaning job in the UAE. As an orphan, no one wanted to give her loans even at high interest rates. For her job as a domestic worker in Kuwait, she did not have to pay any fee.
Many migrants land <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/homes-away-from-home" target="_blank">good homes</a>, and they do not look at the agents as villains but as enablers who helped them bypass the ban. How else would they be employed and provide for their families? A bad migration episode does not deter many from retrying their luck again through irregular channels.
Instead of the ban, more concerted, proactive <a href="https://migrationpolicycentre.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/1st_dilemma_4th_response.pdf" target="_blank">efforts</a> to manage this highly vulnerable sector rife with abuse are needed via stronger embassies, bilateral labor agreements, monitoring, pre-departure training and awareness campaigns, Regular communication, as well as <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/migrating-for-domestic-work" target="_blank">alternate</a> jobs both domestically and overseas.
This problem is not unique to Nepal. Sri Lanka’s <a href="https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Working-paper/PDF/wp2021-44-ban-on-female-migrant-workers-skills-differentiated-evidence-Sri-Lanka.pdf" target="_blank">restrictive policies on</a> emigration has encouraged informal and illegal activities involving lower-skilled <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/two-decades-of-debate-on-female-migration">female migrant workers </a>because they have to circumvent the policy. This has led to higher exposure to recruitment related vulnerabilities and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepal-s-corruption-carousel">corruption</a>.
In a former diaspora-run paper called Sahayatra, UAE-based Dalbir Singh captured in 2007 the views of many UAE-based migrants regarding the government <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/lift-the-ban-on-domestic-workers">ban on domestic workers</a>. Migrants had a similar view: that domestic work sector should not be banned given that it puts workers in more vulnerability, but more protection is needed given the vulnerabilities in the sector.
The article noted that a river should not be blocked just because it floods. It was known 18 years ago and even earlier that bans do not protect domestic workers, and there is a long history of flip-flopping between bans of various kinds.
The last one was put in place in 2017 after a Parliamentary committee visited the Gulf and decided it was unsafe for domestic workers, regardless of gender. After a similar 2020 trip, the committee instructed the government to revisit the ban considering country-specific policies and several preconditions, which were still deemed restrictive, but better than previous rules. Implementation has been weak despite the proposal around <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/ban-on-female-migrant-workers-to-be-lifted" target="_blank">lifting</a> the ban starting with a pilot agreement with the UAE.
Will the latest ’visit visa scandal’ lead to constructive discussions around how to manage emigration better? Or will it just lead to a further clamp down on visit visa misuse by proposing bizarre alternates as has been done in the past? The most recent <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/history-of-female-im-mobility-in-nepal" target="_blank">proposal</a> that got quashed, for example, included a requirement to get "written consent from the guardian and local government for women under 40 to travel to the gulf and Africa.”
For <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-hard-working-students-overseas">Nepali youth</a> with a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/push-factors-driving-nepalis-out">preference for overseas jobs</a>, there are enough vacancies and unfilled jobs in the world. They do not have to be compelled to become fake visitors, seek backdoor entry as students, rely on unauthorised agents, or even fight wars.
But for that we need to prioritise regular, safe pathways and responsible employers, and not create bottlenecks in the name of protection.
BANNING and UNBANNING
Timeline of Nepal regulations on overseas household work
1985-1995
&gt; Consent required from a guardian to go for foreign employment.
1995-2000
&gt; Women permitted to go for foreign employment in certain organised sectors (1997)
&gt; Ban on labour migration for women (1998)
2000-2005
&gt; Conditional ban provided women obtains security guarantee from Nepal’s diplomatic missions in countries outside the Gulf (2000)
&gt; Reapproval needed after visiting Nepal (2003)
&gt; Letter of approval from local governments and family members (2003)
&gt; Foreign employment for females in organised sector in Malaysia opened (2005)&nbsp;
2005-2010
&gt; Restrictions on female migrants to work in organised sector lifted (2007-2008)
&gt; Complete ban on domestic workers to Lebanon (2009)
&gt; Ban lifted for women to go to Gulf countries.
2010-2015
&gt; Women allowed to migrate to any country including as domestic workers with a government target of 150,000 female migrants, mostly to Gulf countries (2011)
&gt; Age ban for women domestic workers less than 30 years to work in Gulf countries (2012)
&gt; Temporary ban on domestic workers in Gulf countries (20-14)
&gt; Age ban for women under 25 for domestic workers in Gulf countries (2015)
2015-2020&nbsp;
&gt; Women above 24 allowed for domestic work through select recruitment agencies if a separate bilateral agreement is signed (2016)
&gt; Ban on domestic workers after field visit by Parliament Committee (2017)
&gt; Ban lifted for current domestic workers to visit Nepal during holidays and remigrate (2019)
&gt; Parliament committee recommends country-specific approach instead of blanket ban (2020)&nbsp;

Upasana Khadka

Revisiting visit visas

Increasing numbers of Nepalis have been flocking to Europe as students and workers, or paying traffickers to sneak in through the back door. And no other country in Europe seems to be as popular a destination as Portugal for them to seek a better life. According to Gabinete de Estratégia e Estudos (GEE) in Lisbon, the number of Nepalis in Portugal had crossed 21,000 even by 2022, and it is expected to be much higher now. This year, Nepal established a resident embassy in Lisbon. Portugal was the most appealing destination for Nepalis and other immigrants because of its immigration-friendly policy that allowed them to ultimately obtain European permanent residence or passport.&nbsp; Even Nepalis from other parts of Europe, like Malta, Cyprus, and the UK used to flock to Portugal. When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and foreigners were allowed to pass into Poland, many of the 7,000 Nepalis in Ukraine ended up in Portugal.&nbsp; Non-Europeans could directly move to Portugal without a job contract and later request residency after paying social security for a year. But everything changed in June 2024 after Portugal repealed a key migration policy, requiring migrants including those from Nepal to have an employee contract before arriving. Most Nepalis here work in hospitality, agriculture, or manufacturing. But at their salary levels, they can barely afford soaring house rentals. Nepalis interviewed for this article and pictured here said they hardly had any savings to send home after paying for immigration lawyers or middlemen. Thousands of immigrants are applying for residency permits but it takes years to get them, and without legal documents they cannot even go back to Nepal without jeopardising their chance of finally getting Portuguese citizenship. Back home they have family, friends and hefty loans. Vision Gurung, 29, from Pokhara came to Portugal in 2023 from Croatia after working there in construction. He started as a farm worker, but soon quit because it was too physically taxing.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250404150412_43274129da8532006b9a575f0639a2afeffe52a6269ab200d483c59973535c0a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20250404150412_43274129da8532006b9a575f0639a2afeffe52a6269ab200d483c59973535c0a" data-rendition-name="original" width="4403" height="3145" loading="lazy" alt="Vision Gurung"> <figcaption>Vision Gurung</figcaption> </figure>  Now he works at a sushi restaurant and earns €1,100 a month and gets free food and accommodation. Gurung’s temporary residence permit is on its way, and he wants to go home after his it is issued. Amos Tamang, 30, is worried that he has not yet found a Portuguese person to go with him as a witness to the local government office, a requirement to process his temporary residence permit. He came to Portugal last year from Romania just after the new immigration policy was announced and remembers sleeping hungry in the streets.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250404150416_8b444a7f02d0e6093da83dd01c643d2f4dec33e62f98f1af037f8b7524586e57.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250404150416_8b444a7f02d0e6093da83dd01c643d2f4dec33e62f98f1af037f8b7524586e57" data-rendition-name="original" width="5369" height="3835" loading="lazy" alt="Amos Tamang"> <figcaption>Amos Tamang</figcaption> </figure>  Tamang has two children and a wife back home, and has now found a restaurant job earning €1,000 a month. At Namaste Porto restaurant he looks pensive as he tells a visiting Nepali: “There’s still a long way to go, If I can’t make it here I will go to Spain, I may have better luck there.” Bikas Saud, 31, shares a rented room with six others in Porto, on the Atlantic coast north of Lisbon. Three are from Nepal and the other three are from Indian Punjab. Saud came to Portugal last year from Cyprus and struggled for months before finally finding a job at a Chinese company. But he was fired without notice after 15 days.&nbsp; Now he works at a restaurant and says: “I want to go to Nepal and get married, that is the first thing I will do after getting a residence permit.” Rajani Garbuja, 28, came from Nepal just three months ago and started working at Namaste Porto. She arrived on a dependent visa through her husband, who lives near the Spanish border and works on a farm.&nbsp; “I am finally together with my husband after two years, but it looks like the paperwork will take time,” says Garbuja, whose husband comes to visit once a month. She only earns €500 a month working 12 hours a day for six days a week at the restaurant.&nbsp; As immigration becomes an election issue in Portugal (left), Nepalis here fear that the policies will become stricter and they may never get their residence permits. The conservative populist Chega party saw a surge of support in last year’s elections, and hopes to win bigger next time.

In limbo in Lisbon

<figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171132/636933d29c7e80680e03dfbfjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>PHOTO: Kunda Dixit</figcaption></figure>As chair of the Colombo Process, Nepal is hosting the 5th ministerial meeting of this network of 12 labour-sending countries in Kathmandu on 15-16 November. Labour Minister Gokarna Bista spoke to Nepali Times about the recent labour pact with Malaysia, and how this loose forum can promote safe migration. Excerpts:Nepali Times: How will Nepali migrant workers and Malaysian employers benefit from the bilateral MoU you signed? Gokarna Bista: Malaysia had been hiring migrant workers from Nepal for over two decades, but the two countries never had a written agreement. Our workers therefore faced problems like lack of minimum pay, social security and workplace safety. Malaysian employers had their own grievances. But we never had a legal or policy framework to address these issues. Now we finally have an agreement that not only protects Nepali migrants but also helps Malaysia manage foreign workers in a dignified way. The pact is even more important for us because it requires Malaysian employers to bear airfare, insurance, visa and security clearance fees previously charged to Nepal’s workers. It also makes it mandatory for employers to deposit the minimum salaries into bank accounts of Nepali workers within the first week of every month. It binds employers to grant workers a 15-day leave if anyone dies in their families.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/bargaining-power/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bargaining power</a>, Editorial<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/paying-an-arm-and-a-leg/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paying an arm and a leg</a>, Om Astha RaiBut aren’t there challenges in implementing these points? Those who have been exploiting poor migrant workers probably want to foil this agreement, but I am sure it will be implemented because it reflects the common interests of Nepal and Malaysia, and both governments are committed to promoting safe and dignified migration.Is this model now going to be applied with Gulf states as well? We have labour agreements with a few Gulf countries, but they are obsolete. Some do not have provisions for social security, forcing Nepali migrants to work for less than minimum wages. They cannot return home because their passports are controlled by employers. We need to renew and update these agreements with Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait, incorporating new measures to tackle new challenges.How important do you think is the Kathmandu meeting of Colombo Process? It is very important. There is a sense that destination countries are hiring migrant workers out of charity, making sending countries feel humiliated about exporting manpower. We want to change this misguided notion, and the Kathmandu meeting of the Colombo Process will be crucial in making both sides feel respected. It may be a loose forum of 12 labour-sending countries, but it will certainly amplify the voice for zero-cost and hassles-free labour migration. It can be a win-win.Read also:<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/manpower-agencies-of-Nepal-are-the-ones-against-zero-cost-migration-policy,2402" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Who is against zero cost migration and Why?</a>, Om Astha Rai<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kleptocrats-of-kathmandu-and-kualalampur/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kleptocrats of Kathmandu and Kuala Lumpur</a>, Ramu Sapkota and Alya AlhadjriWhat is your take on the ban on Nepali housemaids? A parliamentary committee had directed the government in early 2017 to bar Nepali women from going abroad as housemaids. We need to review this, and have already begun discussions with the parliamentary committee. But before taking a decision on the ban, what we really want is to have exclusive MoUs with countries that want housemaids from Nepal. We want to ensure that Nepali domestics are paid well, have a safe place to live, stipulated working hours and a safe environment in which to work.Many migrant workers return home wounded. How can we tackle this problem? When Nepali workers get wounded or disabled while working abroad, they are simply dumped by their employers and they have to be taken care of by the Nepal government and their families. So we are holding talks with governments of labour-receiving countries to ensure that employers also take responsibility for wounded workers. Malaysia has already agreed, and I hope other countries will follow suit.Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://nepalitimes.atavist.com/nepalis-killed-in-the-line-of-duty" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Killed in the line of duty,</a> Om Astha Rai and Sonia AwaleT<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/the-lottery-of-migration/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he lottery of migration</a>, Editorial<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/zero-cost-migration-qatar-nepal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Zero cost migration, really?,</a> Om Astha Rai<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/disproportionate-number-of-deaths-of-Nepali-workers-in-Malaysia,2812" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dying to work in Malaysia</a>, Sonia Awalehttps://youtu.be/SMdywykmPdk

Win-win migration

<figure><img width="3888" height="2592" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110714114/636903159c7e80680e037ca0jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>A classroom full of Bhutanese refugee children in Beldangi. Many of them have been denied resettlement to be with their families already in the US. All photos: JAMIE PIOTROWSKI</figcaption></figure>As a student in Pittsburg in the United States, I began working with refugee populations four years ago. A wide-eyed sociology graduate I was aspiring to change the world, though I did not know exactly how.My first job as Resettlement Caseworker changed the trajectory of my life. The first family I was helping were three men from Bhutan, a father and two sons who had arrived in Pittsburgh but needed help to adjust and find work.Now, as a graduate student I came to Nepal to learn more about the people from Bhutan who were my neighbours and friends back in the United States. They were among the 75,000 <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/no-one-to-care-for-doctor-who-cared-for-everyone/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepali-speaking Lhotsampa people</a> forced out by Bhutan’s royal regime and with Indian help sent to Nepal. They were housed in refugee camps for the next 20 years until they started being <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/resettlement-of-Bhutan-refugees-in-United-States,3404" target="_blank" rel="noopener">repatriated to the US</a>, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Bhutanese-refugees-in-united-kingdom-find-stability,1585" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the UK</a>, Canada, Norway, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15045#.W2gmdmaB1TY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Netherlands</a>, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17868#.Wk3SKlWWbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New Zealand</a> and Australia.<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/camps-for-Bhutanese-refugees-are-emptying-but-some-want-to-return-home,2748" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Over 8,000 refugees still remain in Nepal</a>, mostly in the camps. But <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2017/02/01/trump-affects-bhutanese-refugees/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">restrictive immigration policies</a> in some of these countries have brought resettlement to a halt for the Bhutanese, some of whom have been living in the camp for nearly three decades. The result: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19646" target="_blank" rel="noopener">families have been separated</a>, much in the same way that children were taken away from illegal migrants in the United States. <figure><img width="640" height="445" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110714114/636903199c7e80680e037ca1jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Tikaram Rasaily is the elected camp secretary at Beldangi, one of the last remaining refugee centres. He was forced to leave his home in Bhutan when he was five years old, and has very few memories of his home but says: “I feel Bhutan in my heart.” And he wants to return one day.Rasaily’s family is now resettled to the United States. His mother and brother live in Atlanta and his sister in Akron, Ohio. Since going back to Bhutan is likely impossible, he would like to be reunited with his family. But he remains in the camp with his wife and child because his application for family reunification was <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/state-of-statelessness-for-refugees-in-nepal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">denied by the United States Department of Human Services and UNHCR</a>.“I was never told why, I have human rights, but no one is allowing me to express them,” he says. <figure><img width="640" height="427" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110714114/6369031c9c7e80680e037ca2jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>As camp secretary, Rasaily is worried about the funding cuts that will affect fellow-refugees who remain. The UN stipend for refugees is now only Rs650 per person every month in lieu of food rations.The World Food Program (WFP) supplies of oil, sugar, salt and other rations have also been slashed, only rice is distributed. Additionally, education funding for 951 students is being cut and students beginning Grade 5 must get enrolled in Nepali government schools.There are only three options for refugees according to UNHCR guidelines: assimilation in Nepal,  repatriation to Bhutan, or third-country resettlement. Unfortunately, for many of the remaining refugees, none of these options are viable. Nepal has not accepted the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, its 1967 Protocol, nor established a national legal framework concerning refugees and asylum-seekers, and Bhutan refuses to take its people back.Applications for resettlement to a third country have been closed since December 2016. Only those approved for family reunification may travel, though many are still waiting for their departure dates. The only other remaining camp in Sanischare may be closed soon.Meanwhile, Bhutanese outside the camps <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=4842#.W2gm-GaB1TY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">face different challenges. Tek Nath Rizal</a>, 71, the leader of the Bhutanese in forced exile used to be a member of the Royal Advisory Council in Thimphu. He fled to Nepal after being accused of a conspiracy against the King, but Nepal’s royal government kidnapped him from his home in Kathmandu and deported him back to Bhutan in 1989. He was <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17869" target="_blank" rel="noopener">jailed and tortured</a> for 10 years and named a Prisoner of Conscience by Amnesty International. <figure><img width="640" height="790" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110714114/636903209c7e80680e037ca3jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="612" height="753" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110714114/636903239c7e80680e037ca4jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Rizal now lives in Kathmandu, Nepal, he is not recognised as a refugee by the Nepal government. He has been adamantly opposed to third country resettlement, and wants all Lhotsampa to be allowed to return to Bhutan. He worries that the international community has abandoned the refugees, especially the case of unregistered refugees, family separations, and justice. ”Those who violated our human rights are still in power in Thimphu today, all I want is to bring democracy to Bhutan before I die,” he told us.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/no-one-to-care-for-doctor-who-cared-for-everyone/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bhampa Rai</a> was a royal physician in Bhutan, and did not have to leave his country. But seeing the plight of his compatriots in refugee camps in Nepal, he thought they needed his care more than the royal family. He lived with his wife taking care of sick refugees for nearly three decades. Rai has relatives resettled in Texas, but refuses to go.“I will either return to Bhutan or die here as a refugee,” he says. The UN has tried to convince the couple to return to Bhutan, but Thimphu has repeatedly rejected it.There are many <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15760#.W2gmBWaB1TY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bhutanese I met in the United States</a> and in Nepal who remain positive despite what they have been through for so long. They are still hopeful about justice being served some day, but it may have to be a long wait.

Family separation, Bhutan-style

As dusk fell over Kathmandu, the thunderstorm continued unabated. It had been raining continuously for 18 hours, and the forecast said it would keep raining at least till 8am on Sunday. The Bagmati roared through Chobhar Gorge in awesome rapids – the only drainage outlet for the entire Kathmandu Valley. By evening, 120mm of rain had fallen in 18 hours, more than the average for the whole of October.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251004161016_99ad9098124bec91da71ac42bbe889981fe64dda2dd3012b8bb289cf78ba4c54.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20251004161016_99ad9098124bec91da71ac42bbe889981fe64dda2dd3012b8bb289cf78ba4c54" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="Kathmandu floods 2025"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251004161016_59b97f3a3b2af91d3876b298963b3e68395c8b388aba6d9972c9bde1f668608d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20251004161016_59b97f3a3b2af91d3876b298963b3e68395c8b388aba6d9972c9bde1f668608d" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="Kathmandu floods 2025"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251004161016_1715f4d6ff1ee87302b697d3c95df36486bea71ed279852ef606c8f5dc68439b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20251004161016_1715f4d6ff1ee87302b697d3c95df36486bea71ed279852ef606c8f5dc68439b" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="Kathmandu floods 2025"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251004161016_ecd3dec69270afbd5a5c71dfa71780b6f8982984a95f3fbb83f23ee594451224.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20251004161016_ecd3dec69270afbd5a5c71dfa71780b6f8982984a95f3fbb83f23ee594451224" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="Kathmandu floods 2025"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251004161016_53e47ae222c9f4397bcdad6d8021a711a5671fd45373fb3df2ed5c6413d58359.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20251004161016_53e47ae222c9f4397bcdad6d8021a711a5671fd45373fb3df2ed5c6413d58359" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="Kathmandu floods 2025"> </figure>  Settlements along the banks of Bagmati and Vishnumati in Kathmandu have been evacuated and affected families will be temporarily sheltered in schools across the capital.&nbsp; Bagmati Province has set up a Unified Command Team for disaster management while the Home Ministry has instructed CDO and security personnel to be on duty 24/7.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251004171048_7e5d10f8e0042190e54e6db6cddbd51ed9d6d9dbc0cdb087d7af3207c9eaa2d0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20251004171048_7e5d10f8e0042190e54e6db6cddbd51ed9d6d9dbc0cdb087d7af3207c9eaa2d0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="888" loading="lazy" alt="heavy rain in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>Friday's satellite precipitation forecast for Sunday morning at 0600 showing heavy rainfall along the Chure Hills and Madhes Province south of Kathmandu. </figcaption> </figure>  The torrential rain has obstructed several highways as well as caused infrastructure damage, but no human casualties have been reported so far. Many had feared a repeat of the deadly flashfloods on 28 September 2024 in which 200 people were killed and half of Nepal's hydropower generation capacity siped out. The government has declared 5 and 6 October as a public holiday to prevent people from travelling during the Dasain festival, and to reduce risk. All highways in and out of Kathmandu closed till Monday. Flood-prone river corridor roads in Kathmandu have been closed after 6PM on Saturday. Meanwhile, all domestic flights were suspended from Kathmandu and other airports from 2PM Saturday, and most inbound international flights were diverted from 3PM onwards. Rerouted flights started arriving in kathmandu late Saturday as the core of the storm system moved east.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251004151056_bad029b05dbfda622986270a798edc6efcc2791ff34f53b9d1283554ac72c39a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20251004151056_bad029b05dbfda622986270a798edc6efcc2791ff34f53b9d1283554ac72c39a" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="heavy rainfall in Kathmandu 2025"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251004151052_9e740929c7ef0899b0f397195695b873bba45b089bb1e11cf37dbe125d0cd60d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20251004151052_9e740929c7ef0899b0f397195695b873bba45b089bb1e11cf37dbe125d0cd60d" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1363" loading="lazy" alt="heavy rain in Kathmandu 2025"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251004151056_2b75c2ea57df76dae1c470f0e460720b7d258868258789729e491ab93cb41ebd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20251004151056_2b75c2ea57df76dae1c470f0e460720b7d258868258789729e491ab93cb41ebd" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="heavy rainfall in Kathmandu 2025"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251004151056_6c045ac30e50710bcf3ca7b6ca4ac9c45e8d8881ed39f522779c860b0d3f15c3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20251004151056_6c045ac30e50710bcf3ca7b6ca4ac9c45e8d8881ed39f522779c860b0d3f15c3" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="heavy rainfall in Kathmandu 2025"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251004151052_9ef160b8403764495b86159661cc9a11d9d7d3b848686a631e5ec8cff0c4c38f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20251004151052_9ef160b8403764495b86159661cc9a11d9d7d3b848686a631e5ec8cff0c4c38f" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="heavy rain in Kathmandu 2025"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251004151052_e5825bcc6666e5235d9db2d4854a19cd6536335ebaf4cd65413acc601ceee3b5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20251004151052_e5825bcc6666e5235d9db2d4854a19cd6536335ebaf4cd65413acc601ceee3b5" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="heavy rain in Kathmandu 2025"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251004151056_097077400e96f571f4418cd7b57c082045d86dd9035c31c5acd7ede2bfc54349.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20251004151056_097077400e96f571f4418cd7b57c082045d86dd9035c31c5acd7ede2bfc54349" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="heavy rainfall in Kathmandu 2025"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251004151056_30a4da8f384f6fe1a862e775124ae08ccf51c1db60e71e7e2d683e0f25f33546.jpg" data-media-id="editor_13" data-image-id="20251004151056_30a4da8f384f6fe1a862e775124ae08ccf51c1db60e71e7e2d683e0f25f33546" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="heavy rainfall in Kathmandu 2025"> </figure>  Madhes, Bagmati and Kosi provinces are the worst hit with Maheshpur in Rautahat district recording 270mm of rain as of 3PM on Saturday. Similarly, Gaur received 243.6mm, Kalaiya in Bara 200.6mm and Birganj 221.4mm. The Department of Meteorology did not blame climate change, but said the unusually heavy precipitation at a time when the monsoon is supposed to have ended was caused by the head-on collision between moisture-laden westerlies with the retreating monsoon.

More dark clouds over Nepal

Kathmandu: A Reader, the latest publication from Martin Chautari, is an anthology of anthropological essays exploring Kathmandu through various lenses across the 21st century. This compilation is edited by Benjamin Linder and attempts to bring modern discourses on Kathmandu and its urbanity together, in a single volume. The book is divided into three sections: the physical form of the city, the imprints it bears from past political upheavals, and the complexity in the lives of its people. The book examines these diverse aspects, leaving readers who have just witnessed the momentous events of September with anxiety, and perhaps a greater understanding of Kathmandu’s context. Urban planning expert Biresh Shah’s discourse on the Valley’s urban sprawl and its landmarks is insightful, but also prophetic when he warns about seismic risk.&nbsp; Jan Brunson’s chapter on female mobility in Kathmandu via scooters is more optimistic, suggesting small-scale, daily-life movements in Kathmandu transform the city for its various demographics — in this case young women.&nbsp; Linder himself contributes with a discourse on the toponymy of Thamel, close-reading Kathmandu’s tourist hub through the usage and understanding of its name over the ages. MYTHBUSTERS The book is a collage of pieces held together by a thread that runs through the chapters of a vibrant, bustling image of the Valley. One common theme is Linder’s attempt to expand on common understandings and urban myths about Kathmandu. Readers who have spent time in the city will relate to the many anecdotes. for example, Niels Gutschow bringing up the lack of open spaces, or Mark Liechty mentioning restaurants in Kathmandu being melting pots of cultures and castes.&nbsp; The essays here further extend these urban legends by giving historical and anthropological contexts. In-migration and the rise in land prices have led to shrinking open spaces, the creation of cosmopolitan food outlets, and even hubs for sex workers. The Bagmati cleanliness campaign extends to a past understanding of the Bagmati Civilisation. Urban myths become puzzles to be solved by connecting the various threads of discussion across the book. The sections in Kathmandu: A Reader are all by experts in their various fields and present a holistic, well-rounded picture. Yet, it is obvious there is still more ground to cover, more themes to explore — perhaps by more Nepali scholars.&nbsp; In his introduction, Linder admits that due to practical reasons, ‘many wonderful works were left on the cutting room floor’. That is a pity. Indeed, there could have been more discourse on the changing ethnic composition of Kathmandu. A close-read into the lives of people termed as ‘outsiders’ but forming a growing slice of the population would be important to also chart future trends. &nbsp; The religious importance of Kathmandu as a unique civilisational alloy forged by melding the Hindu and Buddhist faiths can be explored more too. One can imagine a future edition including an examination of the post-Covid era Kathmandu valley.&nbsp; This need to broaden the ethnographic literature on Kathmandu becomes more apparent because 11 out of the 15 essays here are written by non-Nepali scholars, including the entire section focusing on urban cultural politics. Linder explains in his introduction that this was largely due to the community of academics in Nepali urban studies being fairly small. Kathmandu: A Reader then becomes even more integral as a gateway for new authors looking to work in the space of urban research on the Valley — undergraduates in the humanities for future theses and research ideas.&nbsp; In a time when Kathmandu is littered with new exam coaching centres for medical and engineering students, an anthology like this helps remind young scholars that there is plenty of scope for qualitative research in the social sciences. Sabin Ninglekhu’s discourse on the sukumbasi and aesthetics in Kathmandu are reminders that stories and academic journeys can be inspired from one’s surroundings. Kathmandu: A Reader has a good balance between academic and lighter readings, and is almost encyclopaedic in nature. There is even content about Kathmandu’s gangsters and scooty girls — allowing readers to venture deeper into their milieu.&nbsp; Kshitiz Pratap Shah is a recent graduate in English from Ashoka University.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251002051016_c8ce28ecfd0dde4986023822b3d40360ead97d29b7f186f6494d8da67021c5a5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20251002051016_c8ce28ecfd0dde4986023822b3d40360ead97d29b7f186f6494d8da67021c5a5" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Kathmanu a reader"> </figure>

A reader for Kathmandu

One is an archipelago, the other is landlocked. But the Philippines and Nepal have a lot in common: both are disaster-prone, their economies dependent on overseas migrant workers, both went though Maoist insurrections that failed to replace a feudal order dominated by political dynasties. And both countries suffer from rampant corruption. Twelve days after <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-new-normal" target="_blank">deadly protests toppled Nepal’s government</a> tens of thousands of Filipinos, many of them youth, also poured out into the streets demanding transparency and better government. Cars were set on fire, and more than 200 people were arrested, nearly half of them minors. The ‘Trillion Peso March Against Corruption’ was fuelled by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/21/world/asia/manila-philippines-rally-protest.html" target="_blank">anger over embezzlement</a> by politicians and their <a href="https://pcij.org/2025/08/31/5-reveals-from-the-flood-control-data/" target="_blank">crony contractors</a> estimated to top $17 billion in flood control infrastructure that were either never completed, or non-existent.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025100411108_85daed60ed5599f53235312e5b33703244bbac8640dbaf5161f90e5abe83f7eb.png" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2025100411108_85daed60ed5599f53235312e5b33703244bbac8640dbaf5161f90e5abe83f7eb" data-rendition-name="original" width="2326" height="1366" loading="lazy" alt="Phillipines anti-corruption protests"> </figure>  “We learnt from Nepal and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/world/anime-protests-flag-moldova-nepal-indonesia-gaza.html" target="_blank">Indonesia</a> how to deploy social media as a tool to spread information, we are digital natives and well connected within the country and across borders,” said <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuri-lemana-68322b183/?originalSubdomain=ph" target="_blank">Yuri Lemana</a> of the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/FOIYouthPH/" target="_blank">Youth Alliance for Freedom of Information</a>, and a part of the GenZ protests.&nbsp; “The system has failed us, unemployment is on the rise, there are shrinking opportunities for youth, and we face environmental threats. There is a realisation that our future is at stake,” Lemana added. Online groups started highlighting bribery and kickbacks in July after President Ferdinand (Bongbong) Marcos Jr himself brought up corruption in the infrastructure budget in his annual address to the nation, and launched a probe.&nbsp; The protests gained traction after powerful visuals of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/international-spotlight-on-nepal" target="_blank">rallies in Indonesia and Nepal</a> circulated on digital platforms. Filipino journalists also exposed the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f0MFz3vmfE" target="_blank">high-flying lifestyle of contractors</a> involved in siphoning off the infrastructure budget.&nbsp; As in Nepal, the youth protests were joined in by various radical groups. In Manila they reportedly included supporters of ex-president Rodrigo Duterte who is currently on trial at the <a href="https://www.icc-cpi.int/philippines/duterte" target="_blank">International Criminal Court (ICC)</a> in the Hague for extrajudicial killings during his ‘war on drugs’ 2011-2019. Duterte still has a lot of support, especially in the Filipino diaspora, for being tough on crime. Duterte was allied with Marcos in the 2022 elections, and his daughter Sara Duterte is currently vice-president. But the two families had a massive falling out, and the Supreme Court annulled the Lower House’s attempt to impeach the vice-president. This week in Manila, a remarkably well-informed Grab driver replayed TikTok videos of Kathmandu’s burning Parliament building to a passenger from Nepal. After his garment factory was driven out of business by cheap Chinese imports, he started driving a ride-hailing cab and was livid with successive governments not providing opportunities to ordinary people like him. Traffic was gridlocked because of flooded streets, and the driver vented out his anger: “Look at this. The streets are always flooded because of corruption. We should have done here what you did in Nepal.” Even before the protests, Senate President Francis Escudero and House Speaker Martin Romualdez had both resigned over the 'Floodgate Scandal'. Romualdez is Marcos’ cousin and is now said to be in Madrid, where his every movement is being tracked by Filipino diaspora in social media posts. The Independent Commission for Infrastructure has issued subpoenas to probe corruption in flood control projects. As in Nepal and Indonesia, much of the anger was over the offspring of politicians extravagantly flaunting their ill-gotten wealth on Instagram and TikTok. In the Philippines, the outrage is also over political clans passing on electoral seats to offspring. The 21 September protests were centred around Rizal Park and the EDSA Intersection in Manila — both symbolic for previous people’s movements against the Spanish colonialists and the 1986 uprising against the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos (father of the present president). “People here had seen what happened in Nepal, and were asking why we weren’t as angry as people there? Why not show our anger, too?” said one reporter who covered the protests. But, he added: “Let’s not be naive. It may have started with youth anger, but there were also people who were paid to infiltrate and instigate. We were also wary that things should not get out of hand like in Nepal.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025100411104_2c02ece56d29b2d8222433572d75c2dcc9bc2f3425d277a0056f393b521eecd0.png" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="2025100411104_2c02ece56d29b2d8222433572d75c2dcc9bc2f3425d277a0056f393b521eecd0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1550" height="996" loading="lazy" alt="Phillipines youth protests"> <figcaption>An Instagram post of the protests in Manila with a comment relating it to the Nepal unrest two weeks earlier.</figcaption> </figure>  Seventy percent of Filipinos are Millennials and GenZ of voting age, and they were impatient with a rigged electoral system. In a clear parallel to what happened in Kathmandu two weeks earlier, radical groups, political rivals, and the general public furious with the system all joined in the protests. Catholic priests, people from all generations and professions had participated in the EDSA Uprising against Marcos in 1986. This time, it was the youth who took the lead. Joseph Francisco Ortega of the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/nationalyouthcommission/" target="_blank">Philippine National Youth Commission</a> said he understands the frustration among the youth that fuelled the unrest. The discontent is also because despite there being young legislators, they are either party-affiliated or scions of political dynasties. “If we can convince young politicians to do the right thing, then we have won half the battle,” Ortega said. “If we want to rebuild quickly and for the long term, we have to change the system from within. There is a constructive way to do this, while exercising the right to non-violent protest.” CROSS-POLLINATION The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6w8monPKdrc" target="_blank">violence in Manila streets</a> on 21 September was nowhere near the scale of what happened in Kathmandu on 8-9 September, but both transcended GenZ to be an outlet for pan-generational rage much like 1986 in the Philippines.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251004111012_e9cf9abfa8e35f3c074506dfdf94a262b5b311da6863cc2ec7bc3458a983df71.jpg" data-media-id="editor_13" data-image-id="20251004111012_e9cf9abfa8e35f3c074506dfdf94a262b5b311da6863cc2ec7bc3458a983df71" data-rendition-name="original" width="6566" height="4377" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal GenZ protests"> <figcaption>Angry crowd torched Parliament building among others during the 8-9 September GenZ protests in Nepal. Photo: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption> </figure>  “With due respect to the youth, it is not about age but about technology,” explained journalist Malou Mangahas of the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/R2KRN/" target="_blank">Right To Know, Right Now Coalition</a> who participated in the 1986 uprising against Marcos. “We were all young and angry once. We are older, but still angry, and demanding good governance, transparency and accountability.” Just like in Nepal, young Filipinos rallying against corruption were also wary of infiltration, and it was clear from the anti-Marcos graffiti who the instigators of violence were. The GenZ were mainly wearing white while the pro-Duterte crowd <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6w8monPKdrc" target="_blank">are seen in videos</a> in black.&nbsp; The minors seem to have just joined in the melee from their street-side settlements. Rights groups have called for their release, accusing police of rough interrogation and ‘red-tagging’ as Communist provocateurs. Much of the transboundary cross-pollination of anti-government protests across Asia last month used gaming characters, memes, and anime personas like the manga cartoon One Piece flag depicting a grinning skull in a straw hat which became an icon of youth protests.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025100411100_2d09f075663678fe92d4e4dcc631ee6ad1aa8a99996f4c4a3649e4bf4d85132f.png" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="2025100411100_2d09f075663678fe92d4e4dcc631ee6ad1aa8a99996f4c4a3649e4bf4d85132f" data-rendition-name="original" width="810" height="1208" loading="lazy" alt="One Piece"> <figcaption>The One Piece Flag flying during protests in Manila on 21 September. Photo:  CYBERNETICBOYLOL / WIKIPEDIA</figcaption> </figure>  Yuri Lemana adapted a saying of gaming character <a href="https://www.warhammer.com/en-WW/shop/mechanicum-archmagos-prime-2024?srsltid=AfmBOorpYg8Zk5G5WiPUS9SXTampX969gMw79sP7ZzkE1G6H5pICR4PW" target="_blank">Archmagos Cortiko</a> in <a href="https://start-warhammer.com/" target="_blank">Warhammer 40,000</a>: “Prayer has its power, but fury also has its uses. If the government tries to hide things from us, we will find a way. Fury will find a way.” Kunda Dixit is the Publisher of Nepali Times, and was a foreign correspondent based in Manila in the early 1990s.

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