The woes of Nepali migrant women in UAE
When Krishna Kumari of Syangja landed in Dubai on March 5, she expected to be ferried to a job at an office. To her dismay, the recruitment agency sent her to work as a maid at a private house instead.
“I learned that the agent had sold me for 12,000 dirhams,” says Kumari, who was looking forward to earning some money in the UAE to send to her mentally-ill mother and paralyzed father back home.
Kumari had no option but to work. But after two months, her employer kicked her out, sending her back to the same agency, which had been housing 45 other Nepali women in a small room. “Two people had to share a bowl of rice, and we were not allowed to use a mobile phone.”
Kumari is one of the thousands of Nepalis who have gone to the Gulf in search of jobs, but on tourist visas, which don’t legally entitle them to work. According to government figures, 65,663 Nepalis have come to the UAE on tourist visas since January 2021. Officials suspect that a high proportion of them have come to work rather than for tourism purposes.
Most of them came to the UAE by paying millions to agents, who work in cahoots with immigration officials.
“The owner of the agency said that I had to pay him Rs 300,000 if I wanted to go home,” says Kumari.
One day, five women, including Kumari, ran away from their captors. A Nepali restaurateur accommodated them for a few days before they were moved to a shelter run by the NRNA.
Until two years ago, the Nepali embassy had been providing shelter to stranded Nepali women workers in its building. After the embassy closed the shelter due to Covid-19, NRNA UAE has been running its own shelter.
Nirmala Thapa, Labor Counselor at the Nepali Embassy, says Nepali workers who come on work visas do not face any problems in the UAE. Nonetheless, she says the embassy would still spare no effort to rescue and assist those who have come in contact with their problems.
Praveen Pokharel, coordinator of the program to help and rescue homeless Nepalis under NRNA, says the organization has provided tickets home to 28 women and 198 men. Pokharel says thousands of others have been provided with food and temporary shelter.
Human trafficking and exploitation start from Nepal. As migrant workers who come on tourist visas carry a legal visa when they arrive at the destination country, they can seek legal redress if they face a problem.
But by the time they realize they have been deceived, they have lost their legal ground. From here they are ready to be sold in the US, Europe, or other Gulf countries, a troubling trend that has been evident of late.
Our growing obsession with jewelry
Thirty-five-year-old Shreya Rana doesn’t wear much jewelry. It’s not something she is particularly fond of. Even at family functions and other events, all she usually has on are the things she wears on a daily basis: Two silver rings (‘lucky charms’ she has had since college) and her simple ruby-and-diamond engagement ring. If she’s in the mood for it, she might add a pair of small earrings. She doesn’t feel the need to be all decked up in millions-of-rupees worth of gold and diamonds but that, in a family where people buy new jewelry to match every outfit and occasion, makes her a misfit. She says she can feel the contempt when her relatives pointedly look at her neck and ears. “Jewelry, I feel, has always been a representation of our economic status. It’s taken as a measure of success, which probably explains our obsession with it,” she says.
Nepal imported Rs 11.12 billion worth of gold in the first quarter of the current fiscal. Manik Ratna Shakya, president of the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Association, says even at approximately Rs 93,000 a tola, Nepalis’ interest in gold hasn’t wavered. Gold and diamond jewelry are safe investments and our culture, he says, also promotes the popularity of gold. There are many rituals and occasions that mandate the use of the precious metal as it’s considered auspicious, he says. Different cultures also require special types of jewelry for various purposes so people buy them without hesitation. It’s also a case of people wanting to upgrade their lifestyles. In the hierarchy of needs, luxury items like gold and diamonds occupy the top of the pyramid, he says, and when people have money, it’s natural for them to want more than the basics.
When ApEx questioned some people who were shopping for jewelry in New Road, Kathmandu, most were found to be either looking for something new because they had some money saved up or they were there to exchange old items for trendier ones. Rabi Krishna Shrestha, one of the directors of Asri Jewelers Pvt. Ltd., says swapping pieces one had bought earlier for newer designs or bigger items is common. Most customers they get fall into that category. “I think that’s the appeal of jewelry. You will always get your money’s worth,” he says. Rashmi Tuladhar, 48, says she buys jewelry for herself now and then as she wants to have a sizable collection by the time her son and daughter are of marriageable age. “If I ever need a substantial amount of cash, I can always sell my jewelry,” she says. Tuladhar wanted to buy a gold choker, similar to what Deepika Padukone apparently wore during one of her wedding functions.
Rosy Shakya, proprietor of Lidhansa Lun Jyasa in Pulchowk, Lalitpur, says people’s preference for jewelry has always been largely driven by trends and what their family and friends wear. There was a time when everyone had to have a diamond broach. Now, layered neckpieces are all the rage, and the bigger they are, the better. “Earlier, bridal wear could be made with two to three tolas of gold. Now people are opting for a minimum of five tolas for a single set. We have also been commissioned to use 10 tolas of gold. If people have money, there seems to be no limit on how much they are willing to spend on jewelry,” says Rosy.
Karna Shakya, owner of Taremam Jyasa, near Rosy’s jewelry store, says he sees a lot of competition among families over who is spending how much on gold and diamonds. It isn’t unusual for people to want to outdo one another and wear the bigger or better necklace or earrings. That, he feels, is one of the driving forces behind people’s growing interest in jewelry. Though business surges during Teej, Dashain, and the wedding season, there is always a steady trickle of customers throughout the year, he says. People also bring in small gold items like rings, studs, and chains that they have lying around at home to the shop to extract gold from it and make a single statement piece. The focus, jewelers in the valley agree, is on large, stylish pieces and rarely ever on old, traditional designs. Jewelers ApEx spoke to say people are more likely to come searching for an item they saw someone wear at a wedding or on TV or social media like TikTok. Personal preferences are cast aside in favor of trends.
Thirty-eight-year-old Samrakshya Karki loves wearing jewelry. A sizable chunk of her salary, she says, goes in buying diamond neckpieces, colored stone earrings or gold ornaments every Dashain or Tihar. At other times too, she makes little purchases—a diamond ring here, a gold chain and pendant there. She says she gets her love of ‘gahana’ from her mother, whose accessories always had to perfectly match her sarees. Rana remembers her parents buying new ones for weddings and other elaborate social functions and now she finds herself following in their footsteps. “The best thing is you get to wear these beautiful accessories and you aren’t wasting your money either,” she says. Karki, however, has a lot of friends who don’t wear jewelry. They choose to invest in land, shares, and bonds. “Just because they don’t buy and wear jewelry doesn’t mean they don’t have the financial means to do so,” she says. “But our culture has become so warped that if you aren’t wearing big baubles, you are automatically placed in the lower rungs of the society.”
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Unfortunately, many people don’t pay enough attention to proper styling of these baubles and that takes away from their charm, says Rosy. She often sees people wearing accessories that don’t go with their clothes. Wearing too much—a heavy necklace, dangly earrings, and fancy bangles—can make individual pieces lose their allure. Young people are also wearing a lot of gold and diamond accessories these days, perhaps cajoled into it by their parents, she adds, and that can be off-putting.
“Jewelry seems to have no age bar but that shouldn’t be the case. We have become so embroiled in an economically competitive culture that we are disregarding aesthetics and what’s proper,” she says. Rana adds that she has seen children with heavy gold bracelets, chains, and even pendants pinned to their shirts. It horrifies her, she says, to think that parents have extended their insecurities onto their children. “I believe the purpose of jewelry is to make the wearer look and feel good. It’s supposed to have a physical and emotional allure. But today it seems to be a way to flaunt your wealth and make the gap between the haves and the have-nots more vivid,” she says.
Nepal struggling to deal with new refugees
In the past year or so, the trend of Rohingya and Afghan migrants coming to Nepal through the open border with India has accelerated. This is a delicate humanitarian issue but it is also proving to be a headache for the country’s security agencies who fear unchecked immigration could imperil national security. Moreover, foreign nationals are entering the country not just from Myanmar and Afghanistan.
Countries around the world are caught up in various kinds of conflicts. The likes of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Lebanon, Myanmar, Somalia and Iraq are in the midst of crippling civil wars, leaving thousands dead and countless more homeless and destitute. Desperate, many of them choose to leave their home country.
Even in Nepal, over 17,000 people were killed during the Maoist insurgency and hundreds of families were displaced. Youths started deserting villages; many Nepalis took refuge in other countries.
Nepalis have found refuge in the US, Japan, Canada and some European countries. Many have submitted papers certifying the high risk of their return home, making them eligible for residency abroad. The same is the case with 716 nationals from 10 countries—Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Somalia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iraq, Congo and Togo—who have taken shelter in Nepal. They do not want to go back to their own country but nor can they legally stay in Nepal. Even though the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) lists them as refugees, Nepali laws do not recognize them.
Nepal has instead been treating them as illegal migrants. The country does not recognize refugees from anywhere bar Tibet and Bhutan. Many of these migrants don’t have any papers linking them to their home countries, including their passports. All they have are identification documents issued by the UNHCR, making them liable to get some help from the global body.
Yet even the UNHCR has cut down on the help it was extending to them, with the excuse that the UN headquarters has significantly cut funding following the Covid-19 pandemic and that the bulk of the sum allocated for refugees has had to be diverted in dealing with the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Many of the migrants struggle for two meals a day and yet they opt to stay put in Nepal.
It is relatively easier for people from Myanmar and Bangladesh to seek refuge in Nepal given the open Nepal-India border and the weak presence of the Armed Police Force in border areas. But why do folks from Somalia, Pakistan, Iraq and Congo come here, after long flights and multiple transits? Are human traffickers bringing them to Nepal with the promise of taking them to Europe and America?
No one has clear answers to these questions, neither the government nor the UNHCR.
Just about anyone can enter Nepal on a tourist visa. Our security arrangements at the Tribhuvan International Airport are lax. Due to our unclear immigration policy and connivance of the APF deputed at the border, the number of illegal migrants in Nepal continues to increase. When the Rohingya enter Nepal via India, the AFP does not stop them, and the same is true of Afghans. Police sources speak of many Afghans who have entered Nepal, destroyed their papers and applied for refuge with the UNHCR.
Many of them come to Nepal with dreams of making it to western countries yet not all of them are successful.
In one way, the migrants in Nepal have become stateless. The Rohingya are the most numerous of all migrants in Nepal, followed by Pakistanis (see the table alongside). They struggle on a day-to-day basis. Rohingya, Afghans, Pakistanis and Somalis are often seen protesting in front of the UNHCR Nepal office in Kathmandu, asking for more help to sustain their livelihood.
After they felt that the UNHCR was ignoring them, the Rohingya started entering Nepali villages in search of jobs. Nepali contractors employed them in homebuilding in places like Biratnagar, Kavre and Gorkha. But even the contractors started swindling them when they learned of their illegal status. These foreign nationals are also under constant gaze of security agencies.
The Rohingya mostly live in a camp in Kathmandu’s Kapan while Pakistanis and Afghans are scattered across Chappal Karkhana and Bansbari. Likewise, Somali women mostly live around Lazimpat. A 40-year-old Somali woman said she was thrown out of her flat when she could not pay her rent during the recent Covid-10 lockdown. (Speaking to ApEx, she also confessed to destroying her documents so didn’t have to go back home.) All those listed with the UNHCR do menial jobs.
UNHCR’s role
The UNHCR accepts applications from would-be refugees. It does thorough background checks and rejects applicants with criminal records. The organization issues refugees cards after six months of rigorous investigation. Though listing with the UN body comes with few perks, just being listed makes many feel more secure.
The UNHCR, in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), has also been resettling refugees in Nepal in western countries like Canada and Sweden. At the request of the two bodies, the Nepal government has been helping with their third-country resettlement.
But many accuse the UNHCR of negligence in looking after the refugees. It cannot even guarantee their basic needs. Many refugee children have been denied education. Even when they get enrolled in school, they cannot attend online classes as they don’t have computers or smartphones. One Rohingya refugee visited ApEx offices in Teenkune recently, requesting this correspondent to arrange a laptop for his daughter who wants to study online. “The UNHCR doesn’t help us in anyway. Please publish news highlighting our plight,” he requested.
All these incidents suggest that Nepal needs a clear-cut immigration and refugee policy. The current state of ambiguity might be convenient for many but it is not a sustainable—or safe—arrangement.
Deviram Sharma, Former chief, National Investigation Department
A growing security threat
Illegal migration is now a global phenomenon. Geographically and economically big countries might not be burdened much by this problem. In fact, the likes of the US, Australia and France have been accepting many migrants. But for a country like Nepal with a small economy and high unemployment, the entry of migrants might pose a big national security challenge.
If the migrants cannot return to their own countries or be rehabilitated in third countries, there is a risk of them getting involved in illegal activities on Nepali soil. As the government’s oversight is poor, there is also a risk of them being used by certain criminal or terror groups. This is why the entry of foreigners into Nepal must be tightened. We must increase the presence of security forces along the Indian border. It is also important that the Nepal government works with the UNCHR in order to manage illegal migrants. As far as possible, the migrants should be returned to their own country.
Again, Nepal’s economy is weak and unemployment is high. This is precisely why around 10 million Nepalis have ventured out in search of jobs. The government has been unable to give common Nepalis basic facilities like health, education and drinking water. In this condition, can the country afford refugees? In the past, those displaced from Myanmar and India’s Meghalaya had come and stayed here. Even at that time, the government had faced big challenges.
There could soon be a security crisis if Nepal doesn’t reconsider its immigration policies.
Indra Aryal, Human rights and refugee activist
Nepal obligated to act humanely
Nepal is not a signatory to the 1959 UN refugee convention. Nor does the country have domestic laws to regulate refugees. Nonetheless, Nepal gave formal recognition to the refugees from Tibet in 1951 and to the refugees from Bhutan in 1990, in line with the provisions of the same UN convention. But Nepal is yet to recognize the children of these refugees or the entrants into Nepal from these places at other times. The Home Ministry recently decided to recognize the children of resident Bhutanese as refugees but it remains mum in the case of Tibetan children.
When China took over Tibet in 1951, around 23,000 Tibetans had entered Nepal and when Bhutan expelled Nepali-speaking citizens, around 113,000 of them came to Nepal via India. If we add refugees from other countries, there are around 20,000 refugees in Nepal right now.
At different times, those who have felt unsafe in their own country have entered Nepal and the Immigration Department has detained and deported them. But human rights activists have also been successful in stopping many of these human rights violations by knocking on the doors of the Supreme Court. They have successfully freed many detained refugees and stopped their deportation. In these cases, the court has also issued directive orders.
Even though it is not a part of the UN refugee convention, Nepal has accepted the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), as well as the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984). These provisions have the status of Nepal’s laws, in line with Clause 9 of Nepal’s Treaty Act 1990.
Act 14 (1) of the Universal Declaration and Act 3 of the Convention Against Torture prohibit member countries from deporting those whose human rights are at risk. Also, in lieu of the provisions on self-respect, equality, freedom, legal rights, and rights against torture that are enshrined in Nepal’s constitution, Nepal is bound to give refuge or provide a safe passage to those who rights are threatened in their country.
Nepal treats the refugees in its midst strangely, whereby it allows them to come and yet does not allow them to live in peace.
Are dietary supplements necessary?
Nepalis have always had a thing for trends. Our wardrobes mimic the styles of celebrities like Deepika Padukone and Katrina Kaif. We host gender reveal parties and plan elaborate baby showers for our friends, just like in the US. The trends we follow are usually harmless, albeit ridiculous sometimes. Health and fitness trends, however, are another matter altogether. They often have far-reaching consequences. Today, more Nepalis are buying and consuming different kinds of nutritional supplements than ever before. Many take multivitamins, omega-3s, biotin, or consume protein shakes on the reg. Experts ApEx spoke to say the trend might be unnecessary, and also a bit risky.
Anushree Acharya, dietician and MD, The Nutrition Cure Nepal, says people are popping vitamins like chocolates these days and it worries her. She says the Covid-19 pandemic made everyone conscious about health and fitness and while that’s a good thing, many have taken things too far. People buy huge bottles of fancy vitamin and mineral supplements with no understanding of when and how to take them.
Anushree Acharya, Dietician/MD, The Nutrition Cure Nepal
“What we need to understand is that a healthy person can get all the required nutrients from a proper, well-balanced diet,” she says. It’s only when you have some pre-existing conditions or a specific requirement to fulfill that you need additional nutrients in the form of pills, she adds.
Dietician Deependra Bhatta says supplements aren’t a replacement for a good diet. Many people don’t pay attention to what they eat and take health supplements like omega-3s and various vitamins to make sure their body’s requirements are being met. It’s become the easy way out, he says. Rather than basking in the sun, which we all know is the best possible source of Vitamin D, we choose to pop a pill. But food-based nutrition is better than relying on chemical formulations. It isn’t difficult to get the required nutrients from food either, says Bhatta. “For example, it’s not necessary to take iron supplements. Just add spinach to your diet. Iron needs Vitamin C for absorption and for that, you can squeeze some lemon on your food,” he says. Similarly, instead of having fish oil for omega-3s, you can include fish, cabbage, beans, walnuts, cashews, chia seeds, flax seeds, and berries among other food items in your daily diet.
Suraj Rawal, proprietor of The Protein Shop, says we have become so trend-driven that if someone we know is taking a dietary supplement, we too buy it without knowing whether it will suit us. Nikhil Tuladhar, marketing officer at E-pharmacy, says they often have to ask people buying multivitamin gummies whether the person they are buying it for has diabetes. It’s shocking how many people are unaware that there’s sugar in gummies, he says. Tuladhar has also had to deal with some parents who want to give multivitamins to their children from a young age. Despite the label in the kid’s multivitamin bottle clearly stating that it’s meant for children over two, there have been some customers who have insisted on buying it for their one-year-old. “It’s just vitamins, what harm can it do?” seems to be the general mindset, he adds.
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Experts say it’s not possible to stay healthy by consuming supplements alone. That awareness is lacking in most people today who want a quick fix or to balance out their bad eating habits. A bad diet and then a handful of vitamins don’t cancel out each other, as much as you wish to believe they do. “Good health is a combination of four elements,” says Rawal. “It’s the result of proper diet, exercise, rest and supplements.” People should be attuned to how they are feeling and understand that their body is unique—meaning what works for their friend might not work for them.
But that isn’t the case, as is evident by the burgeoning online businesses selling all kinds of nutritional supplements. Pharmacies too have started stocking up on supplements because of their high demand. Multiple pharmacies in Lalitpur claim they have as many people coming in to buy supplements as prescribed medications. Tuladhar says people are mostly aware of the benefits but hardly ever of the contraindications. From what they have heard of and read on YouTube and other social media platforms, most seem to have come to the conclusion that supplements are necessary if they want to stay fit and prevent diseases.
However, Acharya says taking supplements without determining whether you need them can do more harm than good. It’s a waste of money too because the imported brands of supplements aren’t cheap. The best thing to do, she suggests, is to get a medical evaluation to figure out what nutrient you are lacking in and tweak your diet. You only need supplements when your daily intake of nutrients through food is inadequate and the inadequacy manifests in some form.
Tasnina Karki, Dietician
It’s also important to note that supplements come with a fair share of possible side effects. Dietician Tasnina Karki says there is a limit to how much vitamins and minerals you can take and consuming too much, for a long time, can lead to health issues. Excess of vitamins, especially fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K, and certain minerals can be toxic. For instance, overconsumption of Vitamin A and E leads to raised intracranial pressure that can mimic symptoms of stroke.
Consumption of large doses of Vitamin A can cause liver damage. If a pregnant woman consumes higher doses of Vitamin A than required, it can lead to birth defects in the fetus. Bhatta adds that supplements can cause annoying side-effects like dizziness and nausea in some people while in others it might lead to increased blood pressure. “Having supplements for a long time also weakens your digestive system,” he says.
Before supplements get a bad rap, Aarem Karkee, dietician at Patan Hospital in Lalitpur, clarifies that our diet today definitely lacks certain nutrients because the way food is grown and produced has changed. The soil quality today isn’t as it once used to be, so plants grown in that soil won’t have as many nutrients as it’s supposed to. We construct artificial ponds to keep fish and our cooking techniques, like steaming for too long or deep frying, ensures loss of nutrients.
Aarem Karkee, Dietician, Patan Hospital
So, in a way, supplements have become necessary. But it’s important to consult an expert to figure out what supplements you need and not randomly take anything and everything available in the market. “Dieticians can work with you to fix your lifestyle and prescribe the supplements you need. That way you will get all benefits while having to deal with none of the risks,” he says.
