Nepal Now: On the Move
We're talking with the people migrating from, to, and within this Himalayan country located between China and India. You'll hear from a wide range of Nepali men and women who have chosen to leave the country for better work or education opportunities. Their stories will help you understand what drives people — in Nepal and worldwide — to mortgage their property or borrow huge sums of money to go abroad, often leaving their loved ones behind.
Despite many predictions, migration from Nepal has not slowed in recent years, except briefly during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. About 1 million Nepalis leave every year to work at jobs outside the country. Tens of thousands go abroad to study. Far fewer return to Nepal to settle. The money ('remittances') that workers send home to their families accounts for 25% of the country's GDP, but migration impacts Nepal in many other ways. We'll be learning from migrants, experts and others about the many cultural, social, economic and political impacts of migration.
Your host is Marty Logan, a Canadian journalist who has lived in Nepal's capital Kathmandu off and on since 2005. Marty started the show in 2020 as Nepal Now.
Nepal Now: On the Move
Why are so many Nepalis leaving their country?
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You might know Nepal as home to the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest, as the place where the Buddha was born, or as the location of many sites sacred to the world’s Hindus. This country is also a geopolitical hotspot, encircled by the world’s giants—China and India—eying one another warily over the Himalayan range.
I’m Marty Logan. As a Canadian journalist who’s lived here going on 13 years, what astonishes me about Nepal is the ever rising number of people leaving the country to find work, or to study. About 70,000 a month are flying out for jobs overseas, mostly to Malaysia and Persian Gulf countries, South Korea and Japan. Do the math and that’s more than 800,000 a year, from a country of 29 million people. Of course most come back, after 2, 3 or more years abroad. Some of them stay home but many leave again as soon as they scope out a new opportunity.
For decades huge numbers of the poorest Nepalis have been walking across the open border to India to work. The practice is so ingrained that these workers aren’t even counted—they could number 500,000 or a few million. 300 students a day are getting written permission to migrate so they can study abroad, at last count. Many don’t return after graduating. They settle in their new country and become non-resident Nepalis.
What happens to these people who shift their lives abroad in order to improve the lives of those they leave behind? Many—but not all—workers send money home regularly, providing a steady income, something elusive in Nepal. Some even save. But what about family relationships when loved ones live apart year after year? Of husbands and wives, migrant parents and their children, migrant children and their aging parents left alone in Nepal? Although it’s changing fast, most Nepalis still live in multigenerational joint families rather than nuclear ones, where children are expected to care for their elders as once they were cared for.
What’s happening to this country, from which nearly every young person I meet wants to flee as fast as possible while, ironically, Nepal’s allure as a global tourism hotspot continues growing. In one way Nepal benefits massively—remittances from abroad now make up about a quarter of its gross domestic product. But villages are emptying and fewer farmers remain to grow the food the country needs.
Of course, migration from poorer to wealthier countries is a global trend, so you can hear echoes in Nepal of other peoples’ journeys, but Nepalis’ experiences are unique to them. On this show we talk to the people leaving—and sometimes returning to—this country. If possible we check in with them after they’ve settled in their new homes, to learn if the reality matches their expectations. Occasionally we talk to officials or experts to better understand why so many Nepalis are on the move.
We post new episodes every two weeks. Like, follow or subscribe now so you don’t miss the next one.
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Music by audionautix.com.
Thank you to Himal Media in Patan Dhoka for the use of their studio.
You might know Nepal as home to the world's highest peak, Mount Everest, as the place where the Buddha was born, or as the location of many sites sacred to the world's Hindus. This country is also a geopolitical hotspot, encircled by the world's giants, China and India eyeing one another warily over the himalayan range. I'm Marty Logan. As a canadian journalist who's lived here going on 13 years, what astonishes me about Nepal is the ever rising number of people leaving the country to find work or, or to study. About 70,000 a month are flying out for jobs overseas, mostly to Malaysia and Persian Gulf countries. South Korea and Japan do the math, and that's more than 800,000 a year from a country of 29 million people. Of course, most come back after two, three or more years abroad. Some of them stay home, but many leave again as soon as they scope out a new opportunity. For decades, huge numbers of the poorest Nepalese have been walking across the open border to India to work. The practise is so ingrained that these workers aren't even counted. They could number 500,000 or a few million. 300 students a day are getting written permission to migrate so they can study abroad. At last count, many don't return after graduating. They settle in their new country and become non resident Nepalese. What happens to these people who shift their lives abroad in order to improve the lives of those they leave behind? Many, but not all, workers send money home regularly, providing a steady income, something elusive in Nepal, some even save. But what about family relationships? When loved ones live apart year after year of husbands and wives, migrant parents and their children. Migrant children and their ageing parents left alone in Nepal. Although it's changing fast, most Nepalis still live in multigenerational joint families rather than nuclear ones, where children are expected to care for their elders as once they were cared for? Migration changes that. What's happening to this country, from which nearly every young person I meet wants to flee as fast as possible? While, ironically, Nepal's allure as a global tourism hotspot continues growing? In one way, Nepal benefits massively. Remittances from abroad now make up about a quarter of its gross domestic product. But villages are emptying and fewer farmers remain to grow the food the country needs. Of course, migration from poorer to wealthier countries is a global trend, so you can hear echoes in Nepal of other people's journeys. But Nepali's experiences are unique to them. On this show, we talk to the people leaving and sometimes returning to this country if possible. We cheque in with them after they've settled in their new homes to learn if the reality matches their expectations. Occasionally we talk to officials or experts to better understand why so many Nepalis are on the move. We post new episodes every two weeks, like follow or subscribe now so you don't miss the next one. If you can't wait, cheque out our two dozen previous episodes right now. Nepal now on the move is on all the podcast apps.
