Migrant Domestic Workers of Nepal

Title: Abandonment, Desertion, and 'Strandedness': A Study of Nepalese Migrant Domestic Workers

Project Site: Jhapa district in Nepal

Methodology

In-depth Interviews:

Interviews with recent returnee domestic workers: In-depth interviews with returnee migrant domestic workers who have experienced abandonment and strandedness within six months prior to fieldwork. These interviews will map migration trajectories and identify points of interventions.

Participatory Mapping

Mapping activities aims to visually document sites of strandedness, points of vulnerability and potential intervention to enhance migrant security.

Interviews with Key Stakeholders

Semi-structured interviews with government, inter-governmental, and NGO stakeholders will focus on how they encounter migrant domestic workers, their programs and activities, gaps in program delivery, and characteristics of the migrants they assist. It will also be an opportunity to present the questioned by migrant domestic workers (during their interviews) to the stakeholders. These interviews will provide insights into the broader context and support systems for migrant domestic workers in Nepal.

 Latest Publications:

• Policy brief: Reducing Vulnerability to Exploitation of Nepali Migrant Domestic Workers – Dr Ayushman Bhagat | Brunel University London
  

  In 2017, the government of Nepal issued a directive banning international emigration for domestic work, with the aim of protecting Nepali citizens from labour exploitation in the domestic work sector abroad. However, Dr Ayushman Bhagat highlights in this policy brief that the ban has had unintended and damaging consequences including exposing migrant workers to increased risks of exploitation and violence, in addition to overlooking the positive outcomes that often arise from migration for domestic work.

• Who benefits from migration bans? (kathmandupost.com) 
  In 1998, the tragic and sensationalised suicide of Kani Sherpa, a Nepali domestic worker in Kuwait, ignited outrage and cast a shadow over domestic work migration from Nepal. In response, the Government of Nepal enacted various forms of bans on migration to protect its citizens abroad, culminating in an umbrella ban on domestic work migration in 2017. Yet, the demand for Nepali domestic workers remains high, as evidenced by the visas issued by employers abroad. As a result, many poor Nepali citizens, predominantly lower caste women, continue to seek work abroad without proper labour permits, facing increased vulnerability to exploitation. 
  
  
  

• नेपाली महिलामा जातीय दासत्वको खिल- विचार - कान्तिपुर समाचार (ekantipur.com)
  eng. The Legacies of Caste-Based Slavery Among Nepali Women
  
  
  

  Summary in English (by A. Bhagat): 

  1. Caste-based slavery in Nepal was officially established by the Muluki Ain of 1854, endorsing slavery and creating a hierarchy of untouchability. Certain castes were deemed so impure they required ritual purification
  
  2. Nepal officially ended caste-based slavery a century ago, but its deep-rooted legacies persist, leaving lower-caste communities, especially women, vulnerable to labour exploitation
  
  3. These legacies manifest in landlessness, lack of citizenship, high unemployment, economic inequality, lower education levels, health disparities, gender-based violence, cultural stigma, and social, legal, and political exclusion.
  
  4. Many women resort to labour migration as their only viable option. Labour migration often leads to seasonal work in Nepal & India, entertainment jobs, sex work or domestic work in Gulf countries - the most profitable one, allowing for some escape from caste-based legacies
  
  5. However the government of Nepal has historically blocked migration for such jobs under protectionist policies. Whilst sex work and sex work migration are legally prohibited in Nepal, there has been a ban on domestic work migration since 2017.
  
  6. These migration bans have unintended consequences: they strip individuals of agency, stigmatise lower-caste women as vulnerable to exploitation, stigmatise their places of origin, reinforce upper-caste biases, and lead to further oppression and violence during transit.
  
  7. The anti-trafficking industry in Nepal, including NGOs, government agencies, and foreign donors, often enforces these bans through awareness campaigns (discouraging mobility), transit monitoring (violating human rights), and rehabilitation programs (fails to address the systemic issues)
  
  8. Anti-trafficking organisations should recognise the limitations of their interventions and instead demand reparations for women from the state and those who have historically benefited from caste-based slaver
  
  9. These reparations include, but are not limited to: apologies and acknowledgement of the historical harms of caste-based slavery, job opportunities, financial compensation, scholarships and reserved spots in top schools and universities, land and citizenship rights, reservations in social and political spaces, free high-quality healthcare, free legal aid, affordable housing, childcare, and social support
  
  10. We believe that true liberation and equality for millions of Nepalese women can only be achieved by addressing deep-seated injustices through reparations
  
  11. The first step the anti-trafficking industry in Nepal can take is to pressure the government to abolish migration bans, which continue to undermine the lives of lower-caste women and force them to bear the burden of the legacies of the caste-based slavery!!

  
  
  
  
• आधुनिक दासत्वको नयाँ भाषा- विचार - कान्तिपुर समाचार (ekantipur.com)
  eng. "The New Language of Modern Slavery: Non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders in Nepal are using the term 'modern slavery' for their own survival. They have not considered what kind of adverse impact this will have on Nepali citizens who are genuinely at risk."

Research Companions:

• Dr Ayushman Bhagat (Brunel University London)
• Sita Mademba (Social Science Baha) 
• Rajib Neupane (Social Science Baha)