Kathmandu, January 27. By Yagya Bikram Shahi
Out-migration of Nepalis began as early as in the 1760s, when its unification was ongoing, and it became more popular only in the 1990s. Around 3 million Nepalis have officially migrated to 150 countries of the world, excluding a huge number of people who have officially gone to India for work.
Preference of destination and capacity of Nepali migrant workers appear to be shifting over time. After India, Malaysia and Gulf countries were popular destinations for Nepali migrant workers considering a relatively lower cost and easier processes. However, this scenario has been changing and Nepali migrant workers are attracted to Europe lately, if we look at the latest figures.
The number of work permits issued by the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security in the last three years show a steady decline in the work permits for Malaysia and Gulf but a rise albeit in a small number for European countries.
As compared to the base year of 2021, the number of work permits to Malaysia decreased by 29% in 2022 and by 86.89% in 2023. Similarly, the number of work permits to the Gulf countries decreased by 24% in 2022 and 57% in 2023. However, the number of work permits to European countries went up by 191% in 2022 and 45% in 2023.
The six Gulf countries – members of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – include Baharain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. Among 44 European countries as of now, United Kingdom, Romania, Croatia, Portugal, Poland, Malta are included in this analysis.
This trend points to a fact that the unskilled or semi-skilled labour migration is decreasing and skilled labour migration is on the rise. Most European countries hire human resources for highly demanded skills with good education, language proficiency and professional experiences. Costs for these migrations are relatively higher and the requirements, more stringent.