Over half a million Nepalis have been rescued from around 60 countries--mostly labor destination countries in the Gulf region--since the start of the Covid pandemic, according to the data released by the country’s Covid-19 Crisis Management Center (CCMC).  

The highest number of people were rescued from the United Arab Emirates with 146,624 people repatriated from the country, followed by Qatar (117,408), Malaysia (51,459), Saudi Arabia (45,186), and India (39,541).

“The majority of Nepalis were rescued with the government’s own efforts and cooperation from non-resident Nepalis,” said Nurahari Khatiwada, the spokesperson for the CCMC. He said most workers lost their jobs in these countries. 

Among the rescued also included people who had gone abroad on tourist visas. The repatriation plan was started in June last year. 

The number of people who returned this year is far less in comparison to the last year. The prolonged ban on international travel also discouraged workers from going abroad.   

The pressure is also building in the domestic job market where close to 700,000 jobs vanished because of the pandemic. The country needs to create 2.4 million jobs every year, finds the report, to accommodate all returnees and new labor workforces entering into the market each year. 

In the fiscal year 2019-20, remittances decreased by just 0.5 percent to $7.35 billion. The transfer of remittances through formal routes helped manage the potential loss of remittances.

The Covid-19 cases decreased significantly in India in the last few weeks, leading to the easing of border restrictions. Thousands are Nepali are not thronging to big cities daily to find jobs there. 

Last year, most workers started returning to India by September. However, after the second Covid wave hit India in late April, people again returned to Nepal. 

(SAM)