<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171144/636bd93b9c7e80680e080200jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="844"/><figcaption>Nepali Times Archives/Om Astha Rai</figcaption></figure>Nepal has set a positive image in the region for adopting a ‘employer pays’ principle that removes the cost burden on its overseas migrants. The reality is that it has remained just that: a principle.Only a negligible number of Nepali workers have benefited from the free visa and free ticket policy – even under bilateral agreements with some Gulf countries and Malaysia that require employers to pay the costs.The issue of recruitment costs has resurfaced with the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/demand-grows-for-nepali-caregivers-in-israel/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/demand-grows-for-nepali-caregivers-in-israel/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1601892756901000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF4sMxqHE6wL_TK2WWv0yxqKiRe8w">Israel-Nepal agreement</a> for caregivers signed last week. Early indications are that the recruitment fees may not be zero, and workers will have to bear costs such as air travel and pre-departure training.Nepal has bilateral agreements with other countries which do not have the employer pays model. Korea has signed Employment Permit Scheme (EPS) with 15 countries for employment in five sectors. Japan has Specialised Skilled Worker program with 10 countries for employment in 14 specific sectors. The agreement between Israel for 500 more Nepali caregivers is similar to the ones it has with Georgia and the Philippines.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepali-workers-stuck-in-no-mans-land/">Nepali workers stuck in no-man's land</a>, Nepali TimesIn all cases workers have to bear some of the cost of recruitment, all countries have specific quotas. And they are often the only legal pathway for Nepalis to get jobs in those countries. The criteria of these overseas worker programs uniformly apply to the sending countries.Nepal’s agreements with the Gulf states and Malaysia, however, are different. They are generic and not part of any specific overseas worker employment program with criteria that apply to all sending countries. The provision in the agreements are outcomes of country-specific negotiations, there are no quotas, and jobs are not tied to any sector. With or without MoUs, Nepali workers continue to migrate legally to those countries.While there is more leeway in the negotiations of such generic agreements, it is difficult for Nepal to be a sole fighter for the employer pays principle in specific bilateral labour programs such as those with South Korea and Japan.Average recruitment costs also vary widely across sending countries (see figure). For example, the Philippines allows an equivalence of one month’s salary as recruitment fee. South Korea is not going to have a flagship bilateral labour scheme for Nepal that says ‘workers from 14 countries will pay $700 but Nepalis will pay 0’.There are therefore limitations to what labour diplomacy and negotiations can achieve. A zero-cost or bust strategy may deprive Nepali workers from benefiting from the most attractive opportunities overseas with guaranteed returns.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171144/636bd93e9c7e80680e080201jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="954" height="551"><figcaption>Average recruitment costs and monthly earnings (2016) of Nepali workers. SOURCE: IOM/KOICA</figcaption></figure>It would help if all sending countries adopted a single voice on common issues such as recruitment costs. Regional platforms like the Colombo Process for cooperation between sending countries have very little to show for now. Instead, each sending country’s priority is the size of the quota it can bag for its workers in South Korea or Japan.Recruitment costs also need to be considered not just on their face value but in terms of their equivalence to wages. There is a vast difference in the returns to employment across countries. Some are more attractive than others in terms of returns and in our case, Japan, Israel and South Korea are relatively better despite room for improvement in worker treatment.The difference between job opportunities in Israel/South Korea versus the Gulf/Malaysia may be an inter-generational social mobility jump versus just sending enough remittances to make ends meet.EPS workers in South Korea have three advantages: they are charged the same amount, there is a transparent breakdown of costs involved that apply equally to all, and they will be able to recoup this cost within a month.On the other hand, workers headed to Malaysia face a completely different reality, even if there is a zero cost pact between the two countries: they are arbitrarily charged <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/brokers-going-for-broke/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/brokers-going-for-broke/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1601892756901000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGVwF9oATSp2EVcyePLm9CY65x_2A">as per the recruiter’s demand</a>. There is no certainty when they can recoup costs, usually it will take many months.  If workers headed to Malaysia knew that they would be able to recoup recruitment cost within a month of arrival, as in the case of South Korea, they would likely see it as a blessing considering the status quo.<a href="http://nepalitimes.com/opinion/zero-sum-game-in-zero-cost-migration/">Zero-sum game in zero-cost migration</a>, Upasana KhadkaNepal’s bilateral schemes with Korea, Japan and Israel have evolved to address high recruitment costs. The EPS itself is remodeled after its predecessor, the Industrial Trainee Scheme, under which workers paid as much as $10,000 for their jobs, and the process was rife with malpractice and exploitation.The Israel market was shut down for Nepali caregivers in 2012 when recruiters started charging up to $8,000 each. Removing intermediaries in these programs is an attempt to reduce costs for workers. In the quest for the ideal ‘employer pays’ model in which workers pay nothing, we disregard the achievable progress in government-to-government schemes like the most recent Israel-Nepal agreement.While Nepal may have signed agreements with employer pays provisions for visa fee and air tickets, there are no mechanisms to ensure its implementation. These principles are only as good as the impact they bring to migrants.In the past few years since it was set up, the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/brokers-going-for-broke/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/brokers-going-for-broke/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1601892756901000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGVwF9oATSp2EVcyePLm9CY65x_2A">Ethics Practitioners Association of Nepal (EPAN),</a> an umbrella organisation of recruiters committed to ethical recruitment including no cost for workers, has been able to mobilise zero workers. The only reason they are surviving is because they have alternate businesses in other sectors.There are some positive signs. Glove factories in Malaysia are <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/global-glove-makers-compensate-nepali-workers/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/global-glove-makers-compensate-nepali-workers/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1601892756901000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE4L3qB7b5YW3AoiKNQQl9UGlYvCw">reimbursing recruitment fees of workers</a> from all nationalities – not just workers from Nepal with which Malaysia has signed a zero-cost pact (see figure). This move was not due to the goodwill of employers or the Malaysian Government, but pressure from the United States after their exports faced a ban from CBP (Customs and Border Protection) and a potential damage to their reputation from profiting during the pandemic.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171144/636bd9419c7e80680e080202jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="965" height="472"><figcaption>Recruitment costs (Months of earnings at destination) SOURCE: World Bank</figcaption></figure>This calls for a more strategic approach to bring real change alongside non-binding, soft commitments, or moral agreements on zero-cost migration that get all the media attention. Another unintended consequence of focusing only on the principle of no-cost migration is that more practical solutions may be disregarded.One of the biggest downsides of financing recruitment costs for Nepali workers is that they are slapped hefty interests by informal lenders that add up significantly. Financing collateral free, low interest loans, as was <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/zero-sum-game-in-zero-cost-migration/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/zero-sum-game-in-zero-cost-migration/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1601892756901000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGtkqeNW-PNxTlOIsFKLrrB3Sp62A">implemented by DfID in Province 2</a> before the lockdown, is an example of a more practical short-term approach to ease the burden on migrants.Is it fair to deprive them of low cost financing solutions knowing that workers are paying to go abroad regardless of whether it is to a country with which we have signed a zero-cost pact or not,Nepal’s well-intentioned policies have failed to deliver, but anyone who cares about migrant welfare will champion the employer pays principle. The bosses of migrants, often migrants themselves but referred to as ‘expats’ for being in a higher position, are not only exempted from recruitment costs but also get compensated for relocation. It is counterintuitive that those in the lowest rungs of the ladder who cannot afford the costs are being made to borrow to pay exorbitant fees just to get the jobs.Nepal’s implementation capability and whether policies are practical in the current context, the incentives for those involved, regional dynamics, and the diverse situation of worker treatment across countries, all have to be taken into account.Turning this aspiration to reality is a long game, and we would be remiss to disregard a whole range of shorter-term, practical alternatives en route.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171144/636bd9449c7e80680e080203jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="95" height="105">Upasana Khadka writes the column Labour Mobility every month in Nepali Times analysing trends affecting Nepal’s workers abroad.

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The theory and practice of zero-cost migration

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151116/636a65169c7e80680e059910jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>SHOULDERING THE BURDEN: The workload for women like Nanimaya Dhungana in Kavre (Above) may have increased because of the climate crisis. Photo: KUMAR ACHARYA</figcaption></figure>Women in Asia and Africa hardest hit <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/climate-climax/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">by climate change</a> have a tough time adapting to the climate emergency, even with support from family or the state, finds a new study. The results raise questions for global agreements designed to help people adapt to the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/climate-damage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">climate emergency</a>, it adds.The findings are based on 25 case studies in three agro-ecological regions on the two continents: 14 in semi-arid locales, 6 in mountains and glacier-fed river basins (including one in Nepal) and 5 in deltas. The main livelihoods in these natural resource-dependent areas include agriculture, livestock rearing and fishing, supplemented by wage labour, petty trade and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/doubts-on-zero-cost-migration-deal-coming-into-force,2157" target="_blank" rel="noopener">income from remittances</a>.Environmental risks include <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-waste-land/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">droughts</a>, floods, rainfall variability, land erosion and landslides, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/on-thin-ice-in-the-khumbu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">glacial lake outburst floods</a><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/turning-on-the-heat/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">, heat waves</a> and cyclones, all of which negatively affect livelihoods. The study, A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Women’s Agency and Adaptive Capacity in Climate Change Hotspots in Asia and Africa was published in the journal Nature Climate Change.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=37135&amp;preview_nonce=066ab9802a&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Migration mitigation, Editorial</a><a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=37206&amp;preview_nonce=9067429ee4&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal must prepare for climate migration,</a> Sonia AwaleIt found that when households take steps to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-climate-threat-multiplier/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adapt to the impact of climate change</a>, the result is that the strategies ‘place increasing responsibilities and burdens on women, especially those who are young, less educated and belonging to lower classes or marginal castes and ethnicities’. This occurred even in cases where support appeared to be available in the form of families/communities or via the state.Examples include when men migrate to find work because of climate change-induced impacts at home. While the money they earn can boost family incomes, when men are away <a href="https://nepalitimes.atavist.com/recharging-the-mountains-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">women must shoulder a larger burden</a>. As a result, most women ‘reported reduced leisure time, with negative consequences on their wellbeing, including the health and nutrition of themselves and their households,’ says the report.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/clock-starts-ticking-at-cop-25/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Clock starts ticking at COP25</a>, Josie Wang<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-carbon-footprint-of-tourism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The carbon footprint of tourism</a>In other cases, governments stepped in with support but during floods or droughts, for example, men dominated state-provided aid and relief facilities, making women rely on their male relatives to receive support.‘In a sense, women do have voice and agency, yet this is not contributing to strengthening longer-term adaptive capacities,’ concludes the report.But in three examples in the study, one in Nepal, women did adapt to the increased burdens delivered by climate change. In Chharghare of Nuwakot district, support from a well-established cooperative enabled many women — excluding Dailit women — to switch from raising buffalo and cattle to rearing goats, which adapted better to growing rain scarcity.“By enhancing women’s agency, we need to understand that we are helping them to create an enabling environment where a women’s right to make decisions about her own life is recognised, where women are economically empowered and free from all forms of discrimination and violence,” said Anjal Prakash, who worked on the case study for the Integrated Centre for Mountain Development (ICIMOD).Poverty is the main factor in the declining decision-making power of women in some hot spots, says the report, even when women share responsibilities in the family and work outside of the home. In semi-arid Kenya, for example, women of female-headed households sell alcohol to earn money to pay for children’s schooling, but this exposes them to health risks, such as engaging in sexual activities with their clients.Read also: <a href="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-element-cse&amp;cx=011870630917993763279:opm7uqsat-4&amp;q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/Recharging-the-mountains-kavre&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjrk7jMyZ7mAhVSzTgGHXMsCPkQFjAAegQIBhAB&amp;usg=AOvVaw0Hk35TvXLe8RkYPj4gjG58">Recharging the mountains</a>, Sonia AwaleA 35-year-old woman told researchers, “Despite our efforts, there is a high level of malnutrition here. We can’t afford meat, we just eat rice and potatoes, but even for this, the quantity is not enough.”The study notes that international agreements, such as the gender action plan of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) require information about what builds the adaptive capacity of women, and men, so that agreements can support sustainable, equitable and effective adaptation.It suggests that effective social protection, like the universal public distribution system for cereals in India, or pensions and social grants in Namibia, could contribute to relieving immediate pressures on survival.‘This however cannot always be done on the “cheap” — investments are needed to enable better and more sustainable management of resources. ‘Women’s self-help groups are often presented as solutions, yet they are confronted by the lack of resources, skills and capacity to help their members effectively meet the challenges they confront,’ the report adds.

Marty Logan

Women in climate hot spots face challenges adapting

<figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108181148/636a96cc9c7e80680e05dc8ajpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: MINISTRY OF LABOUR EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL SECURITY</figcaption></figure>Politics is dirty. The manpower business is dirtier. Mixing the two can mean the difference of life or death for hundreds of thousands of desperate Nepalis seeking work overseas.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/win-win-migration/">Labour Minister Gokarna Bista</a> was sacked last week in the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/honest-heads-roll-in-nepal-reshuffle/">cabinet reshuffle</a> by Prime Minister K P Oli under pressure from the recruitment mafia – the cartel of unscrupulous middlemen who profit from the blood, sweat and tears of fellow Nepalis. The recruiters had been baying for his head ever since Bista started dismantling the corrupt system that profited from exploiting and abusing workers.Immediately after the minister’s removal, the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA) published a press release warning the Nepal government’s Department of Foreign Employment to take decisions only after consultation with them. Is that a threat? You bet it is. And it shows just how powerful the mafia is that it can go about intimidating the state.What is more, NAFEA’s blatant warning was a not-so-subtle ‘you are next’ reminder to Bista’s successor, Rameswar Rai Yadav, not to deign obstruct their rent-seeking activities by pushing through Bista’s reforms.Prime Minsiter Oli ostensibly carried out his long-awaited reshuffle to address <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/four-year-itch/">public disillusionment with his administration’s failure of governance</a>. Given that  honest heads rolled, politicians with questionable reputation were inducted, and corrupt non-performers were retained, the intention was to consolidate Oli’s position ahead of his <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/prime-ministers-health-condition-under-wraps/">prolonged absence for health reasons</a>. It had nothing to do with rewarding integrity and effectiveness.Bista represented a much-needed voice in the foreign employment industry, but his strong stance against unscrupulous recruiters cost him his job. Within weeks of assuming power, he stopped workers from going to Malaysia in order to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kleptocrats-of-kathmandu-and-kualalampur/">break the syndicate</a> that was overcharging workers. His ministry amended the Foreign Employment Act, reducing the number of manpower companies from over 1,200 to 850 by increasing their security deposit and facilitating mergers. This was to ensure that only professional and honest organisations remained in the industry, and to stop recruitment companies from cutting competition by engaging in visa trading.Bista was aggressively pursuing <a href="a">bilateral agreements with countries including Malaysia</a>, Japan, UAE and Mauritius, which included provisions on equal pay for equal work and zero cost for migrant workers. To minimise fraudulent job offers his ministry required that all demand letters for workers be verified at Nepali diplomatic missions abroad. The agreement with Japan barred recruitment agencies, given the record of aspirant workers paying more than Rs1 million each for opportunities in Japan. These pro-worker reforms cut the illegitimate profits of recruitment agencies who had it easy in the past and consequently, vociferously contested his position.Bista was starting to get crossborder recognition for his initiatives. Following the signing of the Nepal-Malaysia MoU, a writ submitted at the Supreme Court in Dhaka against a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-and-malaysia-rewrite-rules-for-migrant-labour/">recruitment syndicate in Bangladesh</a> that sent workers to Malaysia referred to Bista's initiative as a model. He took a lead in the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/labour-pain/">Colombo Process</a> to bring labour-sending countries together.Yet, his <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-and-malaysia-rewrite-rules-for-migrant-labour/">sacking was expected</a>. A recent <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/reducing-labour-pain/">editorial in this paper</a> warned about how many wanted the Malaysia agreement to fail. In the last 20 months, the wave of rumours about Bista’s possible ousting had demoralised his ministry. Bista’s comrades in the party were protecting the mafia, and were also jealous of his popularity as a can-do labour minister, and in his previous job as water resource minister.Reshuffling politicians comes with consequences that are not immediately apparent. The bureaucrats Bista inspired are despondent. The message this episode conveys is discouraging for any Nepali who wants to innovate, break the status quo, and who does not want to be complacent. It is too early to judge the new labour minister's capacity or integrity. But Bista’s unceremonious ouster sends the message to others in government is to lie low and play it safe.  Bista’s zero-cost migration initiative would have been difficult to enforce not just for Nepal but for all labour-sending countries faced with this shared challenge. With his departure, the Oli administration has sent a clear message that predatory recruiters are free to swindle poor Nepali workers as much as they want, exploiting their desperation for jobs.Lasts Thursday on 21 November, Bista walked out of Singha Darbar after his farewell event and took a taxi home. He looked undefeated, perhaps validated by the outpouring of support in the social media. His last words to his despondent team and gathered media: “The post of a minister is temporary. Life itself is temporary. I am coming out of this with more inspiration and vigour to serve the country.” <h2>10 years ago this week</h2> Ten years ago this week the Nepali Times edition  <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/issue/478">#478 (27 Nov 2009 - 03 Dec 2009)</a> talked about how the prime minister was in Singapore for health treatment and the country was in disarray. Sound familiar? Excerpt from <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16526#.XdtzyoMza70">editorial:</a>It is the curse of Nepali politics that a party boasts about its democratic credentials by <a href="http://www.nepalitimes.com/2009/11/27/315">'allowing' parliament to function for three days</a>’. The most inclusive house ever elected in Nepali history was blocked for five months, there is a logjam of legislation waiting for ratification, the budget delay deadlocked development, and important national issues were not debated.Meanwhile, despite the drama of the NC and Maoist leaders <a href="http://www.nepalitimes.com/2009/11/27/313">meeting around a hospital bed</a> in Singapore, there is no end in sight to the political deadlock. At this stage, it is difficult to say what NC Chairman Girija Prasad Koirala seeks to achieve by forming a 'high-level political mechanism' when grassroots politics bristles with antipathy and apathy towards the governing coalition.<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/issue/478"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108181148/636a96cf9c7e80680e05dc8bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="789"></a>

BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS

https://youtu.be/M2XedSLYl-gHari Pun, 31, was working on the scaffolding of a building in the Malaysian city of Penang last year. He was wearing a plastic helmet, but had no safety harness. As he leaned to reach out, he fell to the ground.Pun had asked for a safety strap, but his Chinese supervisor had told him: “It is just a three-storey building. You won’t die even if you fall.” The supervisor was right: Pun did not die. But his fractured spine turned left him quadriplegic.Pun was <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-malaysia-labour-pact/">working in Malaysia</a> for three years, after spending two years in Saudi Arabia. Missing home and family, he was preparing for a return to Baglung to be with his wife and two little boys. When he did return home, it was with broken bones and shattered dreams.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/win-win-migration/">Win-win migration</a><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/bargaining-power/">Bargaining Power</a>, Editorial<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/labour-pain/https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/labour-pain/">Labour Pain</a>, Om Astha RaiIt has been a year since Pun was confined to bed, where he lies staring at the ceiling of his stone and mud house. His wife works on the family farm and looks after their livestock. She had been able to send their children to a private school with the money Pun sent home. Now, the family cannot afford it, and the boys will go to a government school.“I did not die, but what I am going through now is like dying every single day,” Pun told Nepali Times over the phone this week.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171132/636933dd9c7e80680e03dfc3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"/><figcaption>Milan Karki's right thumb was chopped off while working at a factory in Kuala Lumpur. Photos: OM ASTHA RAI</figcaption></figure>When Kamal Khatri, 21, went to work at a rubber factory in Johor Bahru in Malaysia last year, he shared a room with an older Nepali migrant worker who had lost four of his fingers and warned him: “Be careful, those machines can swallow you alive.”Khatri was careful, but in one late night shift, his right hand was caught in a latex grinding machine and torn to shreds. It happened at 5AM, and Khatri had been on the factory floor for nine hours. He was tired and sleepy, and had reached down to pull out a rod that had got stuck in the grinder when the machine suddenly restarted.“It happened so fast it took me a long time to realise that my hand was gone,” he recalls. “For months, when I had an itch or when I wanted to hold something, I would reflexively turn to my absent hand.”It has been a year since Khatri returned to his village in Bhojpur, but is still not used to being left-handed. “My aim was to look after my elderly parents, but they have to look after me,” he told us.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kleptocrats-of-kathmandu-and-kualalampur/">Kleptocrats of Kathmandu and Kuala Lumpur</a>, Ramu Sapkota and Alyaa Alhadjri<iframe id="datawrapper-chart-49Q6n" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important;" src="//datawrapper.dwcdn.net/49Q6n/2/" height="400" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>The Nepali media often print pictures of coffins of <a href="https://nepalitimes.atavist.com/nepalis-killed-in-the-line-of-duty">dead migrant workers</a> arriving at Kathmandu airport, and the human cost of labour migration gets much attention. But the fatalities overshadow the plight of wounded migrant workers, and their lack of support back home.Official records show that in the last ten years, 1,178 Nepali migrant workers returned home wounded. The actual number could be higher. Undocumented workers who have lost limbs are not counted, like Milan Karki whose right thumb was chopped off while working at a factory in Kuala Lumpur. He stayed back even after his contract expired.Nepal’s Foreign Employment Promotion Board provides financial help up to Rs700,000 for wounded migrant workers, depending on the severity of their disability. Since its inception a decade ago, the Board has doled out more than Rs160 million in aid to those returning with disabilities. However, for the severely wounded like Hari Pun, and those suffering mental trauma, compensation is not enough.The number of wounded migrant workers is still much less than fataities, but it has been on the rise (see chart). Experts say the fact that so many Nepali workers are being injured abroad shows systemic lapses in their pre-departure orientation.<iframe src="https://nepalitimes.carto.com/viz/e9f72fca-71e3-4391-b3c8-276d8453cbf7/embed_map" width="100%" height="520" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>In the past, migrant workers could easily obtain certificates after participating in pre-departure orientation on safety without attending a single class. The government now claims to have curbed this malpractice, but ensuring participation may not be sufficient. Jiwan Kumar Rai of the Board says: “We need to develop a system to examine if migrant workers have understood the basics of the pre-departure orientation.”The rising number of wounded workers also exposes Nepal’s failure to press destination countries to do more to ensure their safety. Malaysia tops the list of the riskiest destinations not only in terms of deaths, but also workplace injuries. Nearly half the Nepali workers who returned home with workplace injuries in the past decade were wounded in Malaysia. (See map above).Nepal last month signed an agreement with Malaysia to protect Nepali workers from exploitation by recruiters and employers. Labour Secretary Mahesh Prasad Dahal told Nepali Times the pact was the most progressive labour agreement Nepal has ever signed with a destination country.He said: “The agreement will enable Nepalis wounded in the work place to claim compensation from Malaysian employers.”https://youtu.be/TojFMwFGjhM<h2>I begged the nurse to poison me</h2><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171132/636933e09c7e80680e03dfc4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427">Mithuwa Kumar Thakur, 36, was determined to escape poverty and unemployment in Nepal. So when all his construction worker friends would take a short nap after lunch break, he would practice driving a road roller in the sweltering desert of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/nepalis-saudi-jail,3517">Saudi Arabia</a>.One hot afternoon, he lost control of the compactor, crushing his left leg below the knee. It had to be amputated.When he came to at a Saudi hospital, he wept for days, not because he was an invalid but because he realised that he was the sole breadwinner for his family. Thakur comes from Dhanusa in the eastern Tarai, the district with the highest number of migrant workers.“I was in agony, so I begged the nurse to secretly poison me to death,” he confided. “I did not want to return home without a leg.”He says he thought of killing himself, even after coming home: “I could not look at the dejected faces of my wife and growing daughters.” But after being counselled by a psycho-social expert mobilised by the Swiss government-funded Safer Migration (SaMi) project, Thakur regained his determination to live.He learnt carpentry, and now works at a local furniture factory. “Because I do not have a leg, I do not earn as much as other carpenters,” he says. “But this is just enough to feed my family.”

Paying an arm and a leg

As someone born and raised in Patan, I knew that the city was rich in art, architecture and intangible heritage. But I never realised just how rich, and how little I knew about its hidden treasures until this book. Yala Mhasika/Exploring Lalitpur/Lalitpurko Chinari is published by the Lalitpur Chamber of Commerce &amp; Industry and introduces the city to the world, as well as to its own inhabitants. Lalitpur is popularly known as Patan, probably because of the pastures for livestock in its outskirts. Its original name in Nepal Bhasa is Yala, and is a blend of urban and rural, old and new.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260101120152_700fb4c7b27d78813f69347846403c492cd1d54e2f62e4ec097013714c4a2022.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20260101120152_700fb4c7b27d78813f69347846403c492cd1d54e2f62e4ec097013714c4a2022" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Exploring Lalitpur book review"> <figcaption>Patan Dhoka</figcaption> </figure>  Like other kingdoms in the valley of Swoniga, the dense urban cluster of houses, temples, monasteries were situated along the higher ground, while the farmlands were on the slopes leading to the rivers below. This unique townscape combined an urban lifestyle within a distinctly agriculture-based rural setting. The fertile soil, replenished by organic nutrients washed down from the streets above, as well as Kathmandu’s location on the ancient trade route between India and Tibet, provided the Valley’s kingdoms with prosperity – and thus the flourishing of art and culture over centuries. Most of Yala’s residents were farmers, traders, or artisans. Chinese visitors who came to Nepal in the 6th century saw that there were more traders than farmers, and more temples than houses. An entire street is inhabited by the descendants of Lhasa traders. Arniko is supposed to have been born in Yala.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260101120152_0fb490355fac9b8252c9abfbf5ef1bbac844b29103744a421eb6ef6dbc77dff7.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260101120152_0fb490355fac9b8252c9abfbf5ef1bbac844b29103744a421eb6ef6dbc77dff7" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1332" loading="lazy" alt="Exploring Lalitpur book review"> <figcaption>Kwonti area which houses five-storey Kumbeshwar temple dedicated to Shiva and Baglamukhi temple dedicated to Dasa Mahavidya shakti peeth.</figcaption> </figure>  Nepal exported goods and even minted coins for Tibet, and had a virtual monopoly of the major trans-Himalayan trade routes. This prosperity was reflected in monuments and shrines like the Kwa Baha Golden Temple. More so than the other three kingdoms of Swoniga, architecture flourished in Yala making it the centre for metal, stone and wood craft. The name Lalitpur means ‘city of fine art’ but with its sense of community, it might as well be a city of fine living. Legend also has it that the name Lalitpur comes from a farmer called Lalit who helped bring the rain god Karunamaya from Assam when the Valley was suffering a prolonged drought. Lalit’s shoulder beam stands to this day in Jhatapol. Disasters, invasion and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/life-in-a-time-of-cholera">epidemics</a> were a recurring theme in Patan.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260101120152_b33b1024cb7a46f49fea35ecc9afa2740895907059d7a43c8bd6c463b1be05e7.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20260101120152_b33b1024cb7a46f49fea35ecc9afa2740895907059d7a43c8bd6c463b1be05e7" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Exploring Lalitpur book review"> <figcaption>Ajima of Haugal Tole which is the oldest stone scripture in Nepal with the Gaja Laxmi in Chyasal.</figcaption> </figure>  The book was put together by the heritage expert team of Rosha Bajracharya, Sunil Pandey and Anil Chitrakar and provides a socio-economic and political history of Patan – how it was always food surplus, thanks to sustainable farming until recently. Ground and drone images by Photo Venture Nepal in the book give us a rare new perspective on Patan. There is an entire chapter on the chariot festival of Karunamaya (Machhindranath), a community-managed festival with Barahi carpenters assembling the woodwork, vine engineers Yamva weaving rope and rattan for the 25m tall chariot, and Ghaku drivers controlling the speed and brakes as the structure rolls through narrow streets in the annual festival.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260101120152_d27b23aeb4548b0b64ab8ed20f40baa331060498c6b5443e2cb999b876c670af.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20260101120152_d27b23aeb4548b0b64ab8ed20f40baa331060498c6b5443e2cb999b876c670af" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Exploring Lalitpur book review"> <figcaption>Te Bahal in Patan which houses Karunamaya six months a year.</figcaption> </figure>  WALKING, WORSHIPPING The book can help in exploring Patan along five routes starting in Patan Dhoka, Pulchok, Shankhamul, Mahaboudha and Lagankhel with maps and details of the baha and bahil, shrines, ponds, open spaces, dhyochenn, courtyards and phalcha along the way. Because of its coffee-table size and heft, however, the guidebook is not practical to carry around. And despite detailed descriptions of the past and present of each site, readers are left wanting to know more about those places. It is proof of Patan’s vast treasures that even this book barely scratches the surface.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260101120152_31a597b7dc1bcc9f67b4f6a66b8c1c0e0a9406727389699e6aed9ac6c3c50901.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20260101120152_31a597b7dc1bcc9f67b4f6a66b8c1c0e0a9406727389699e6aed9ac6c3c50901" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1332" loading="lazy" alt="Exploring Lalitpur book review"> <figcaption>Patukodom where visitors can view what remains of the ancient Kirant palace.</figcaption> </figure>  Some of the lesser-known must-visit sites include Patukodom which is all that remains of a palace of the original Kirat inhabitants of Patan. An archaeological dig here would surely unearth hitherto unknown facets of pre-Newa Patan. Then there are the slightly out of the way shrines like Mahabouha, a replica of a temple in Bodhgaya which houses 3,341 terracotta Buddhas with 90 big statues and which took 35 years and four generations to complete.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260101120152_ffb657dc254f707dc1755f6f13b1ef67bb7183b6573da9678c54482129fb3878.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20260101120152_ffb657dc254f707dc1755f6f13b1ef67bb7183b6573da9678c54482129fb3878" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Exploring Lalitpur book review"> <figcaption>Mahaboudha is a replica of a temple in Bodhgaya.</figcaption> </figure>  In a recent Patan by Night heritage walk, we learnt that Pim Bahal was the labour of love of a lakhe demon (now popularised as masked dancer) who had fallen for a local girl, and he dug the pond so she would not have to walk to a faraway spout to collect water. Nearby is the Charumati Chaitya, built by the daughter of Emperor Ashoka when she visited the Valley in the 3rd century BCE to spread Buddhism in Nepal. Interestingly, if Kathmandu is a city of temples, Patan is the centre of monasteries which represent a unique Tantric melding of Buddhist and Hindu forms. Examples are: the Tadham Cuka with relocated Licchavi-era chaityas symbolic of the four major events in Buddha’s life, Ajima of Haugal Tole which is the oldest stone scripture in Nepal with the Gaja Laxmi in Chyasal, and Bignantak Ganesa temple which is a manifestation of Shiva mingled with Vajrayana Buddhism.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260101120152_17a500e77f06b9881f684329e41d3482f6f6a639ffb929d8bb44e5af7934c61c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20260101120152_17a500e77f06b9881f684329e41d3482f6f6a639ffb929d8bb44e5af7934c61c" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Exploring Lalitpur book review"> <figcaption>Bignantak Ganesa temple.</figcaption> </figure>  &nbsp;Besides spatial descriptions, the book also explains the temporal by curating a detailed cultural calendar of Lalitpur with dates and places of jatra, rituals, devotional dances and festivals that weave the agricultural cycle with the zodiac.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260101120152_b8e1cc03653fea85dec84a7abee4fd594c35c6ad553769f37905eb5b38774e08.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20260101120152_b8e1cc03653fea85dec84a7abee4fd594c35c6ad553769f37905eb5b38774e08" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="Exploring Lalitpur book review"> <figcaption>Mipwa Lakhe of Patan which create fire in mid aid during performance.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260101120152_442e10bff842214e8c7522ebf6e63663599768db73bb57d999deff9de1b59375.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20260101120152_442e10bff842214e8c7522ebf6e63663599768db73bb57d999deff9de1b59375" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Exploring Lalitpur book review"> <figcaption>Gan pyakhan or Astamatrika dance which is performed in Patan Darbar Squre during Dasain. </figcaption> </figure>  The very last chapter is dedicated to water and nature, what sustains lives and civilisations, and how Lalitpur continues to be the city it is because of the water supply system our ancestors left behind which function still, despite encroachment and pollution. ‘In the history of the world cities have been built, they thrived for some time and then became archaeological sites because they were not able to maintain the quality of air, water, and its soil,’ the authors write. ‘This led these cities to depopulate and ultimately die and are only referred to in history books. Lalitpur is not going to make the same mistake.’ &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260104080132_3f403388d57da82b499d6c489a8f095002bf69f11e515e92fa96fb5ca3af69e9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20260104080132_3f403388d57da82b499d6c489a8f095002bf69f11e515e92fa96fb5ca3af69e9" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Exploring Lalitpur"> </figure>

YALA

One of the few Newa towns situated outside Kathmandu Valley, Panauti still evokes the feeling of a place frozen in time.&nbsp; Largely untouched by haphazard urbanisation, this town 32km east of Kathmandu used to be a kingdom revered for the sacred confluence of the Punyamati and Rosi rivers.&nbsp; The Bramhayani temple is the site of a 12 yearly Makar Mela which is attended by devotees from as far away as India.&nbsp; Panauti’s crumbling monuments were restored in the 1990s by the French government. Temples, resting places, traditional homes were rebuilt and locals trained to revive their craft. Panauti and France marked 50 years of cooperation in September.&nbsp; However, the priceless murals on the temple walls are fading and need urgent restitution. Now, these crumbling wall paintings are meticulously documented in the Wall Paintings of Panauti and Their Context.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260106090116_31f6acf06ef879037fec8274b85153eab4468566abf71616490679bf8468b85d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20260106090116_31f6acf06ef879037fec8274b85153eab4468566abf71616490679bf8468b85d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1596" height="1074" loading="lazy" alt="Panauti murals"> </figure>  In his foreword, French researcher Gérard Toffin writes about some of the earliest wall paintings from the Malla period in Kathmandu, including a 17th century mural depicting the procession of Rato Machhindranath which has since been restored.&nbsp; Several other pieces still exist but in a pitiful state, defaced by scratches. ‘They were painted on a plaster coating made of soil, husks, or limestone, which were applied to the bricks making up the walls,’ Toffin notes.&nbsp; The book delves into the cult of Asta Matrika among Newa of all castes and classes, the first of which is Bramhayani. These all-pervading deities are linked to Shaktism which focuses on the importance of the female principle and together, combine the forces of life, sex and fertility with that of death and eros. The deities are painted on the wall, carved on the stone or moulded into metallic statues.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260106090120_836efd2b0a569d8ec0fb2c6651a29b8f2dd8f8f75b72e27bb86b0bfc0ad8461f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260106090120_836efd2b0a569d8ec0fb2c6651a29b8f2dd8f8f75b72e27bb86b0bfc0ad8461f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1074" height="1434" loading="lazy" alt="Panauti murals"> </figure>  Riddhi Baba Pradhan, former director general of the Department of Archaeology who oversaw the restoration of Panauti 30 years ago, writes that a colourful wall painting depicting Buddha's past life at the Chabahil Chaitya built or restored during the reign of Lichhavi king Vrisdev in the 3rd century might be the earliest mural in Nepal. As for Panauti, a fragment from a 400-year-old scroll which illustrates a scene of Triveni Ghat with Dalinchok Hill in the background is likely the oldest. But that relic is currently at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in the United States.&nbsp; Pradhan recalls first encountering wall paintings inside Bramhayani temple which were deteriorated by smoke, leaky roof, dust, vermilion, sprinkles of animal blood and lack of maintenance. The team led by chemist Bhimvar Singh Thapa treated the wall paintings and some of the details were recovered including the paintings of Astamatrika and Asta Bhairav on the east, west and southern walls.&nbsp; PAINTINGS ARE NOT VISIBLE The murals were painted during the reign of the last Malla King of Bhaktapur Ranjit Malla and Queen Viswalaxmi Devi 300 years ago. But 40 years after the restoration, Pradhan notes that the murals are again in poor condition: ‘The paintings are not visible, the plaster is severely damaged and the surface has peeled off … electrical wires hang haphazardly inside the temple.’ The second lot of murals at Ghat Sattal are thought to have been commissioned during the late Malla period or the beginning of the Shah dynasty. Exterior walls depict incarnations of Lord Vishnu as well as Sesh Narayan, Ganesh, a scene of Samundra Manthan, of angels Maya, Moha, Ganga. Their attributes, dresses, ornaments, facial expressions, body postures are all skilfully represented but in a deteriorated condition.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260106090116_88d06703ae23a271905d81f35056d41df92cbbc4b9966fac3f34821659e585a8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20260106090116_88d06703ae23a271905d81f35056d41df92cbbc4b9966fac3f34821659e585a8" data-rendition-name="original" width="588" height="862" loading="lazy" alt="Panauti murals "> </figure>  The wall paintings of Bramhayani Dyochhen are 90% degraded even though they were restored and repaired 40 years ago by the Panauti Integrated Project. Compared to other artefacts, wall paintings are more delicate to external factors, and if not preserved an important part of Nepal’s heritage will be lost.&nbsp; Furthermore, most of the wall paintings in Nepal are temperas, and not frescos. Tempera is painted with water-soluble mineral or vegetable pigments fixed with glue on the cow dung clay plaster on the brick walls. While Nepal’s focus has been on the repatriation of stolen artefacts from abroad, religious and cultural objects within the country like the Panauti murals need urgent attention.&nbsp; This slim publication by Panauti Municipality is an important call to begin the work before it is too late.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260101120124_d0efa1e57b2710a206beb37c7e934ac34e694afc278985934eac2fc52124a92c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20260101120124_d0efa1e57b2710a206beb37c7e934ac34e694afc278985934eac2fc52124a92c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Wall Paintings of Panauti"> </figure>

Saving Panauti's murals

Violations of Nepal’s airspace during WWII

In 2025, Nepal’s Ministry of Tourism <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-everest-industry" target="_blank">added six new 8,000m peaks </a>to those listed on its website. These are subsidiary summits of <a href="https://explorersweb.com/kangchenjungas-challenging-confusing-subpeaks/" target="_blank">Kangchenjunga</a> and <a href="https://explorersweb.com/through-the-unknown-to-the-impossible-lhotse-middle/" target="_blank">Lhotse</a>, which some view as insufficiently independent to be called separate peaks. In 2024, the international mountaineering federation (UIAA) responded to a request by the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) and the government to officially recognise these peaks. While recognising that ‘there is no one definition of a “mountain” or a “peak” or a “top” or “point” in topographic terms’, and encouraging further debate the UIAA’s opinion was that the 8,000m peaks should continue to the ‘Classic 14’, first completed by Reinhold Messner in 1986. The degree of prominence and isolation of <a href="https://www.climbing.com/news/new-8000-meter-mountains-nepal/?scope=initial" target="_blank">the six new peaks </a>varies, with Yalung Kang having the strongest claim to being a separate peak with a prominence of 135m, but they are all separate enough to be included on some peak-bagging lists. The UIAA’s own list of 4,000m summits in the European Alps includes Punta Giordani with a prominence of only 6m. Whatever the case for the six peaks being geographically separate mountains, they represent significant climbing challenges. They are not minor tops that can simply be ‘bagged’ on route to a main summit. In the case of <a href="https://explorersweb.com/through-the-unknown-to-the-impossible-lhotse-middle/" target="_blank">Lhotse Middle and Lhotse Shar</a>, no one has ever managed to traverse between them and Lhotse itself.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260107080144_881321a6e46818beb7bbd4fe6f21589d89d19bf77ae8218474d373ef7ab0c431.png" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20260107080144_881321a6e46818beb7bbd4fe6f21589d89d19bf77ae8218474d373ef7ab0c431" data-rendition-name="original" width="2888" height="1590" loading="lazy" alt="New 8,000ers"><figcaption>Nepal’s 8 existing 8,000ers: Chomolungma 8,848.86, Kangchenjunga 8,586, Lhotse 8,516, Makalu 8,485, Manaslu 8,163, Dhaulagiri 8,167, Annapurna 8,091, Cho Oyu 8,201. Photo: GOOGLE EARTH PRO</figcaption></figure>   <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260107080144_27bf905c1a559c46819dc96ca33d22c27fc301d415fc034f26b8acd105c12da7.png" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20260107080144_27bf905c1a559c46819dc96ca33d22c27fc301d415fc034f26b8acd105c12da7" data-rendition-name="original" width="1750" height="976" loading="lazy" alt="New 8,000ers"><figcaption>Nepal has listed six additional 8,000ers: Yalung Kang (8,505, Yalung Kang West 8,077, Kanchenjunga Central (8,473, Kanchenjunga South 8,476, Lhotse Middle 8,410, and Lhotse Shar 8,400. Photo: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption></figure>  Several fine routes have already been climbed on these mountains, such as Slovenians Andrej Štremfelj and Marko Prezelj’s alpine style ascent of the South-West Ridge of Kangchenjunga South. The six peaks have not yet achieved universal acceptance, but it is possible that climbing an expanded list of 20 eight-thousanders could become a new mountaineering challenge, just as the 14 classic peaks are today. It is therefore interesting to analyse who is currently closest to achieving this goal, using data from The Himalayan Database and other Internet research. The first conclusion of my analysis is that these six additional peaks have received far less attention than the classic 14 eight-thousanders. One of them, Yalung Kang West, has never been climbed or even attempted: probably because it is a subsidiary peak of <a href="https://explorersweb.com/kangchenjungas-challenging-confusing-subpeaks/" target="_blank">Yalung Kang</a> which is itself a subsidiary peak. The other five peaks have seen a total of 138 ascents. Just 101 people have ever climbed one or more of the additional peaks, which compares with 354 people who climbed Everest on a single day: 23 May 2019. Russian Evgeni Vinogradski is unique in having climbed five of the six new peaks. He has also climbed six of the classic 8,000ers, giving him a total of 11 out of the 20 peaks on the expanded list. Vinogradski is now 80 and is unlikely to increase this total. Several other former Soviet climbers have climbed three of the new peaks, having participated in the 1989 traverse of the four main summits of Kangchenjunga. This includes two legends of Soviet climbing: Kazakh Anatoli Boukreev and Ukrainian Sergey Bershov, each of whom has climbed 13 out of the 20 peaks on the extended list. Boukreev died attempting Annapurna in 1997. Bershov, one of the only men to have ever climbed Lhotse South Face, is now 78 and, although he was in good form when I met him in Chamonix last summer, he is unlikely to further extend his tally. The addition of the new peaks does not take any of these climbers beyond the total of 14 peaks achieved by the 76 climbers who have completed the classic ‘Himalayan Crown’. Of those who have climbed all 14 classic eight-thousanders, only one, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/um-hong-gil-s-project-impossible" target="_blank">Korean Um Hong-Gil</a>, has climbed any of the six additional peaks.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260107080144_5651fc6445f5e5fd838f28e1eac1da45da136b309a4a00db1e4aafa7d4836251.png" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20260107080144_5651fc6445f5e5fd838f28e1eac1da45da136b309a4a00db1e4aafa7d4836251" data-rendition-name="original" width="2142" height="1310" loading="lazy" alt="New 8,000ers"><figcaption>Only one mountaineer, Korean Um Hong-Gil, has climbed any of the six additional peaks.</figcaption></figure>  Um climbed both Lhotse Shar and Yalung Kang, giving him a total of 16 summits. He required four attempts to climb Lhotse Shar, including one attempt in which he turned back just 100m from the summit following the deaths of two teammates. He finally succeeded in 2007 via a route up the Lhotse South Face. If a race to climb all 20 eight-thousanders were to begin, Um is currently in the lead. <a href="https://www.himalayandatabase.com/" target="_blank">The Himalayan Database</a> also lists two additional mountains in Nepal not included among the peaks announced by the Ministry of Tourism: Annapurna Central and Annapurna East. If these are included, bringing the total to 22 peaks, a few additional climbers deserve mention. Poles Piotr Pustelnik and the great Jerzy Kukuczka have both climbed all 14 classic eight-thousanders as well as Annapurna East, giving them 15 out of 22. Swiss climber Erhard Loretan climbed all 14 as well, and both Annapurna subsidiary summits, giving him a total of 16 out of 22 peaks. Annapurna East has a greater prominence than some of the 6 new peaks proposed by Nepal, but Broad Peak Central in the Karakoram has the greatest prominence of any subsidiary 8000m summit. Kukuczka has also climbed Broad Peak Central, so if the list is extended to 23 peaks, he has 16, equal with Loretan and Um. Then, there is a case for Shishapangma Central in China, which further complicates the task of coming up with a definite extended list. At the moment, these subsidiary summits are not attracting a lot of attention: of the 138 summit climbs on them, only 12 occurred in the last 25 years and none since 2011. Most climbers like to have some wide recognition of a target before investing time and money in trying to achieve it, and this may make it hard to build interest. But as completing the classic 8,000m peaks starts to become a rather frequent occurrence, some may be attracted to the longer list. If this new challenge catches on, as the Ministry of Tourism presumably hopes, how long will it be before someone passes Um Hong-Gil’s total and how long before someone climbs all 20 or 22 or 23 summits? <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/dispelling-myths-about-climbing" target="_blank">Edward Morgan</a> is a British author and climber based in Switzerland. His first book, Lhotse South Face - The Wall of Legends, has been published in several languages and his second book, Chasing Mallory's Dream is due out in the UK this year.

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