Read this story in Nepali: प्रतिबन्धले रोकेन बाध्यता : चेपुवामा घरेलु श्रमिक महिला
Kamali BK, hailing from Bara district of Nepal, harbored aspirations of a prosperous life, familial well-being, and liberation from hardship, destitution and suffering when she embarked on a journey to an unfamiliar foreign land. The voyage was arduous, yet she held onto the hope that her circumstances would improve upon reaching her destination: Kuwait.
Back home, Kamali endured hardship and poverty. Her husband, who had sought foreign employment in Malaysia, had become unreachable. It deeply saddened her to witness the hungry faces of her two daughters. "Their bleak future troubled me. I wouldn't be able to provide for them by staying here either," Kamali expressed.
Consequently, she resolved one day to join other women traveling to the Gulf countries on visit visas. Around that time, a woman named Sita BK, who was in Kuwait, pledged to secure employment for her. Sita informed Kamali that she would need to pay Rs 300,000 for this opportunity and assured her of good earnings once in Kuwait. It was then that Kamali began to envision a joyful future for herself and her family. However, she lacked both a passport and the necessary funds. Her mother provided the money for her to obtain a passport. She then borrowed Rs 300,000 from a local moneylender and entrusted it to Surendra, a manpower agent. On February 1, 2023, she departed from Tribhuvan International Airport for Kuwait, with a layover in Sri Lanka. She had to take the Sri Lankan route because the government of Nepal has prohibited Nepali women from working as domestic helpers in Kuwait.
On April 2, 2017, the International Relations and Labor Committee of Nepal's then legislative parliament had instructed the government to refrain from sending workers to specific destination countries until clear laws concerning domestic helpers were established and a labor agreement was in place with Nepal. Subsequently, the government ceased sending women to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman. Nevertheless, women did not cease their pursuit of employment abroad; instead, they altered their travel routes.
Women who previously traveled to these countries with official labor permits before the government's directive began departing without such permits, utilizing a third-country route via India and Sri Lanka. These women, having fallen victim to the deceptive assurances of agents, now encounter exploitation, violence and inhumane treatment.
While some women who arrived in the destination countries through irregular channels are content with their employers, they face the inability to return home due to the government's prohibition on their destination countries and intricate legal issues. This situation has deprived them of their right to reunite with their families for an extended period. Their reluctance to return also stems from the apprehension that once back home, they will be unable to resume work in their destination countries. However, those who do not wish to return to work eventually make their way back home.
Thirty-five days after arriving in Kuwait, Kamali returned home. While there, her sole concern was whether she would make it back alive and unharmed. Kamali had left her home full of health and optimism, but she came back burdened by depression. "Words cannot fully describe what I endured in those 35 days," Kamali recounted. "I went abroad seeking freedom from the suffering back home, but the suffering I faced there almost cost me my life," she shared with NIMJN over the phone.
Ten days after her arrival in Kuwait, Kamali was placed in employment. Her responsibilities involved caring for 15 family members, working from five in the morning until three in the early hours of the next day. For this grueling work, her employer provided her with nothing more than plain bread and black tea. After ten days, she reached her breaking point and informed her friend Sita that she could no longer continue working. Sita advised her to tell her employer that she wished to return home. It was then that the horrifying reality struck her – she had been sold. The agent had sold her to the employer for 1,200 Kuwaiti dinar (approximately NPR 534,000). "That's when I felt even greater fear," Kamali said. "I couldn't inform anyone because my mobile phone had been taken away by the employer. I was held captive in a room for five days."
In that room, there were a total of 30 women from various countries, including herself. "It was a dark cell; you couldn't distinguish between day and night. They would beat us mercilessly and demand, 'If you want to return home, pay Rs 500,000'," Kamali recounted.
During Kamali's captivity, Sita would frequently call her (Kamali's) family in Nepal, threatening that Kamali would die in Kuwait if they failed to send money. In desperation for her daughter's safety, Kamali's mother began pleading for assistance in their village. A compassionate individual named Binod Paudel provided her with financial aid, enabling Kamali to return home on March 6, 2023.
By this time, Kamali had already succumbed to depression. Her relationship with her husband, which was already fragile, irrevocably ended in divorce. Once again, Binod Paudel supported her by helping with her treatment and advised her to file a human trafficking case against Sita BK. Kamali followed this advice and filed a case at the Kathmandu District Court on November 12, 2023. She reports that the case has not yet been scheduled for a single hearing.
No data of the returnees
Over the past five years, a total of 101,182 women have departed for countries where the Nepali government has prohibited women from working as domestic helpers, using visit visas. In the same period, according to the Department of Immigration, the number of women going abroad for employment with labor permits stands at 280,190. However, the Nepali government lacks specific data on how many of the women who left the country on visit visas have returned home and how many remain in their destination countries. "We don't have separate returnee statistics. You can only trace if a person has returned by searching their name, which is not only complicated and time-consuming but also practically impossible," stated Bibek Bidari, an immigration officer.
Some of the women working as domestic helpers in Gulf countries after traveling there on visit visas are facing exploitation. Others have managed to improve their families' circumstances through employment, but they all share a common sentiment: "We have become victims of a state-imposed policy of prohibition."
Saraswati (name changed) is one such woman. In 2022, she traveled to Oman on a three-month visit visa, paying Rs 300,000 to an agent. She initially flew to Bahrain, but her intended destination changed after she arrived in the UAE. The agent who arranged her flight informed her that she now had to go to Oman. "For several months, I struggled to accept the reality that I had been sold," Saraswati recounted. "If I could have come legally, the destination of those who are compelled to seek foreign employment wouldn't change midway."
Saraswati deeply longs for her three children who are in Nepal. Her eldest son had to discontinue his education after completing grade 12, and her eldest daughter was studying in grade 11. Her husband neglected his responsibilities towards their children and his wife, leaving Saraswati with no choice but to obtain a passport and seek employment abroad. Europe and America felt like unattainable dreams for her.
"I wanted to come here as a domestic worker," Saraswati shared with NIMJN, her voice heavy with emotion, during a phone call from Oman. "I knew it was illegal, but I was compelled to take this route due to the flawed government policy."
She yearns to return home, manage affairs for her children, and then go back to her same employer in Oman. However, the journey back home is fraught with obstacles, which is why she hasn't been able to muster the courage to return. "Because going back to Oman isn't easy, many sisters are unable to return home even when their family members have passed away," she explained.
Domestic violence as a driving factor
One of the underlying reasons why these women, despite the significant risks and potential for domestic violence in banned countries, still seek domestic labor there is the very domestic violence they experience in their own homes. Many women express that they felt compelled to leave the country as a means of escaping such abuse. Sunita Mainali, the president of the Women's Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC), a non-governmental organization dedicated to advocating for the rights of women workers, states that the primary motivation for most women seeking foreign employment is to find safety from domestic violence.
Kamali BK had left Nepal for this very reason, yet she was forced to return home from Kuwait for the same devastating cause – the domestic violence inflicted upon her by her employer.
Some NGOs and the Human Trafficking Investigation Bureau possess data regarding women who have returned home or have been rescued from these destination countries. The Human Trafficking Investigation Bureau, established in 2018, has rescued 331 women from the countries that were banned by the government in 2017. Since 2018, the bureau has rescued 200 women from Kuwait, 41 from Iraq, 30 from Dubai, 57 from Oman, and one from Qatar. "This data clearly indicates," says Gyan Bahadur Bista, the DSP at the Human Trafficking Investigation Bureau, "that imposing a ban is not the solution to the problem." According to him, despite the ban originating from Nepal, agents continue to send women to these prohibited destinations by utilizing routes through India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. The 2022 national report on Human Trafficking by the National Human Rights Commission of Nepal reveals that women who arrive in Gulf countries on visit visas have become victims of human trafficking. Furthermore, the international labor committee of parliament, in April 2073, released a report indicating that four percent of women reached Gulf countries via routes through India, Sri Lanka, China and Africa.
The number of women seeking foreign employment continues to climb. According to a survey conducted by WOREC Nepal, while 82,712 women left the country in 2001, this figure surged to 406,163 in 2021. The same survey indicated that out of the 2,000,000 individuals who emigrated, 19 percent were women. Data from the Department of Immigration reveals that as many as 2,090 women entered Oman on visit visas in 2023. In the same year, a total of 448 women and 785 women traveled to Qatar and Saudi Arabia on visit visas, respectively. The 2023 statistics also show that 432 women departed for Kuwait and one woman for Iraq on visit visas. However, the government lacks reliable data on how many of these women returned home after their visas expired and how many remain in their destination countries.
All is not doom and gloom
It's not to say that every woman who reaches these destination countries through irregular channels faces only despair. Not all experience domestic violence; some find happiness with their employers. Manakala (name changed) is one such woman. She arrived in the UAE via India in 2020 on a three-month visit visa. After five days in the UAE, the agent transported her to Oman, where she hasn't returned home since. Manakala, who works as a domestic helper in Mobala city, Oman, is unaware if any agreement or exchange occurred between the agent and her employer, nor did she ever wish to know. She was given the day of her arrival to rest and began working the following day in the same household where she is still employed. Although she was brought there on a visit visa, she didn't have to pay a substantial amount for it. "Kamala Dhakal from Madi, Chitwan, brought me here," she shared with NIMJN over the phone from Oman. "Once I started working, they informed me that I had to pay Rs 50,000 for travel expenses, which I paid in three installments."
It has been six years since she left Nepal, and she hasn't been able to return home to her two sons. She left after a difficult relationship with her husband, hoping to provide better care for her sons. However, her sons' relationship with her is also strained. "If I could return home occasionally, they would have a better relationship with me."
Manakala, however, felt a deep longing for her sons. Sadness washes over her when she thinks of them. Her employer had even offered assistance if she wished to return home, but she hasn't dared to come back, fearing that she might encounter difficulties in returning to work after leaving. She needs to renew her visit visa every two years, but she cannot do this independently. "I don't know how to do it. My employer handles this for me," she explained.
According to Bikal Jha, the chair of the National Coordination Council of the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) in Oman, there are numerous women like Manakala working in Oman on visit visas who are content with their employers. He estimates that over 5,000 Nepali women are employed as domestic laborers in Oman alone, yet the government lacks any record of these women who are sending remittances back to Nepal.
Despite the fact that women continue to go to Gulf countries banned by the government, this prohibition was implemented with the welfare and safety of the women themselves in mind, asserted Basanta Bahadur Bohara, the under-secretary with the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security, who served as the deputy spokesperson at the ministry during NIMJN's conversation with him. While acknowledging that recent media reports and studies indicate the ban has caused injustice to women, he maintains that the government's action (the ban) was an effort to protect women's rights and their human rights. "The reports that became public revealed that Nepali women working as domestic helpers in Gulf countries and Malaysia were in dire situations, with increasing instances of physical and mental exploitation, and their health and safety were at risk," Bohara stated. "There were cases of exploitation, physical torture, non-payment of salaries, and other forms of violence and abuse. This is why the parliamentary committee recommended improving the conditions and imposing a ban for the protection of women."
Violation of women’s rights
Mohana Ansari, a human rights activist and advocate, argues that the government has infringed upon women's rights to employment, equality and freedom of movement by denying them labor permits. "The government imposed a ban on their employment without considering the economic circumstances and livelihoods of these women workers," Ansari stated. She contends that the state's policy of prohibition has deprived women of their right to employment, despite the constitution explicitly guaranteeing every citizen the right to choose their occupation. Furthermore, she asserts that the government has imposed discrimination against women.
"The government cannot provide them with employment opportunities here, nor does it permit them to seek employment in foreign countries. This constitutes significant discrimination," she said. "A situation should be created where any woman, just like any man, can pursue foreign employment by being officially registered, with dignity." While acknowledging that women face violence, she points out that male workers also encounter similar hardships. "Men also face problems. Where has the government and parliament spoken out against this? Men also endure heartbreaking situations in foreign countries."
She suggests that if the government genuinely champions its citizens' interests, parliament should also raise the issue of prohibiting men from going to dangerous destinations. "Otherwise, why this prohibition solely on women?" she questioned. She argues that it is precisely because of the ban that women are subjected to violence. "When citizens cannot pursue a legitimate route, they resort to the wrong path," she explained. "Nepali women have taken illegal routes to foreign employment because they cannot find a legal one. This fact is not unknown to the government."
In her view, instances of violence against women workers will decrease when the government starts facilitating women who aspire to work abroad. "Our government has good relations with the governments of the Gulf countries. Our government needs to engage in dialogue with them to take the initiative to ensure safe and dignified employment for our citizens. But instead, it has imposed a ban. This is an injustice to our citizens."
Section 8 of the Foreign Employment Act (2007) explicitly prohibits gender discrimination, thereby rendering any such discrimination in foreign employment unlawful. Despite the existing ban on women seeking employment as domestic helpers in certain countries, this restriction does not extend to men who wish to work in the same destinations. According to Mohana Ansari, this discrepancy constitutes a clear instance of gender-based discrimination imposed upon women.
Violence by state policy
Sunita Mainali, the president of WOREC, contends that women face a double bind due to the state's policy of prohibition. "The state imposed a ban on women, citing their vulnerability to violence as domestic helpers," Mainali explained. "However, our research indicates that they often choose this type of employment precisely to escape violence inflicted by family members and social discrimination." She argues that the state has effectively prevented women from working and earning a living. In her view, many women seek foreign employment to improve their families' economic circumstances, and she believes that women who undertake such employment despite the risks, even leaving young children behind, should be acknowledged and encouraged.
"Women who go abroad in search of employment opportunities to better their families' financial situations not only shoulder family responsibilities but also contribute to the national economy through remittances," she stated. She argues that the country and the families affected by discriminatory social structures and ingrained biases have failed to recognize the independent existence of women. "Women have been denied their personal choices, and society has failed to take pride in their self-respect and contributions," she concluded.
While acknowledging the reality that some women face violence, she argues that not all women in foreign employment experience such hardship. In her opinion, women become vulnerable to violence because the state has obstructed the legal avenues for them to seek employment abroad. "They are not subjected to violence simply because they chose foreign employment. They are at risk of violence due to the unjust means by which they are compelled to enter foreign employment. It is the state's policy of prohibition that has driven them towards violence," she asserted.
According to her, the state imposed the ban by propagating a narrative that women face violence because they pursue foreign employment. "The ban did not deter them from seeking foreign employment. You can prevent this by creating opportunities. If the state generates employment opportunities for them, there would be no need to impose a ban on them from going to hazardous places for employment," she concluded.
She contends that the unjust state policy has not only pushed women into situations of violence but has also created circumstances where they are denied fair wages for their labor. "Citizens neglected by the state are unable to negotiate for better wages in foreign countries," she stated. "Women are in trouble because of flawed state policies. The state needs to rectify this policy immediately."
Gyan Bahadur Bista, DSP at the Human Trafficking Investigation Bureau, explains that the police have been actively involved in rescuing women facing violence. "Women who go abroad through irregular channels are not in the state's records. We need to prioritize those who are in contact with state mechanisms," he said. While mentioning that the Bureau has been rescuing even those who have sought foreign employment illegally, he notes that they often become a secondary priority in rescue efforts, which further exposes them to additional risks of violence.
Will it change?
Basanta Bahadur Bohara, an under-secretary at the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security, acknowledges the difficulties women face due to the ban policy. He also mentions that several rounds of discussions have occurred within the ministry since the ban was enacted in 2073. "Since the ban specifically targeted women, raising concerns about their rights, we have engaged in discussions regarding this policy," he informed. "A policy to send women as domestic workers to countries with which Nepal has bilateral labor agreements, through the establishment of a protocol, is in the final stages of implementation."
According to him, arrangements will be made within a few months to allow women who have traveled to Gulf countries without obtaining labor permits to acquire such permits through the Nepali embassies in those countries. This will enable them to return home and subsequently go back to their jobs in the destination countries. "This initiative aims to document women who travel on visit visas in the government's records," he explained.
He further stated that once those who have gone to these countries through irregular means also obtain labor permits from the respective embassies, they will be entitled to policy benefits equal to those who arrived legally. While noting that some embassies have begun the process of issuing labor permits, he added that it will take time to implement this practice in all countries due to technical reasons. However, when will the state facilitate their employment through legal channels directly from Nepal? "In the near future," he responded.
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