The problem of Braindrain

Foreign employment in Nepal: issues of
Brain Drain and Brain Gain

Seema Parajuli,a visa applicant

 Nepal has a long history of foreign
employment in India, dating back to 19th
century, when men from the hill areas
migrated westwards to the city of Lahore in
the northern region of Punjab.
 There they joined up as soldiers in the army
of the Sikh Rajah, Ranjit Singh. Even today,
those working abroad are popularly known as
"lahures."

 After Anglo-Nepal war (1814-1816), an increasing
number of "Gurkhas" joined the British army in
India, starting a tradition that continues today.
 The development of tea estates in northeast
India increased demand for Nepali workers who
came in substantial numbers, and a significant
expatriate Nepali community began to grow in
those areas.
 Over the next few decades, Nepali soldiers in
Gurkha Regiment saw action in defense of Indian
and British interests in other parts of Asia,
including Kashmir, Malaya, and Borneo.

 Agriculture remains a major source of
livelihood, tourism is also important.
 But Nepal's major exports is labor, and most
rural households now depend on at least one
member's earnings from employment away
from home and often from abroad.
 The Labor Act of 1985 has facilitated
arrangements for Nepali migration to about a
dozen specified countries, but the
government has failed to develop a coherent
labor export policy.

Nepali overseas
Country Articles Overseas Nepali Population

India Nepali Indian 4,100,000
Burma Burmese Gurkha 400,000
Saudi Arabia Nepalis in Saudi Arabia 350,000
Malaysia Nepalese people in Malaysia 300,000
United States Nepalese American 110,616
Bhutan Lhotshampa 110,000
Qatar Nepalis in Qatar 100,000
Japan Nepalis in Japan 100,000
Nepalis in the United Arab
United Arab Emirates 50,000
Emirates
United Kingdom Nepalis in the United Kingdom 35,000
Iraq 30,000
China Nepalis in China 21,000
Continental Europe 20,000
Hong Kong Nepalis in Hong Kong 16,000
Australia Nepalese Australian 10,000
South Korea Nepalis in South Korea 100,000
Canada Nepalese Canadian 6,000
Total Overseas Nepal Population ~5,643,000

 1,200 Nepalis leave the country every day to
study and work in other countries
 About 982,000 Nepalis emigrated from the
country in 2010. This constitutes 3.3 percent
of Nepal’s total population.
 Nepal was among the 10 low-income
countries with the highest migration rates in
2010.

 Contribution of remittance to GDP 23.6
percent.
 56 percent of households seeking direct
benefits due to this sector.
 Social Problems like responsibility voidance
causing worries for child-care, family-
matters and nurturing of elder citizens at
home.
 No investments from the government like
technical schools, colleges, and training
centers.

 “There is a shortage of doctors in America
and the gap is filled by other countries like
China, India, and Nepal and so on,” says
Gagan Thapa.
 Similarly there is demand for nurses abroad
and many Nepali nurses’ head to the West for
attractive salaries.
 The western countries are benefiting without
foundation investment in doctors, nurses and
other professionals while our country is
thinning out on experts and professionals.

 Also known as “The human capital flight”.
Can be simply defined as the mass
emigration of technically skilled people from
one country to another country
 “There are not only Nepali manual labourers
working in the Qatar but approximately 200
to 300 Nepali engineers working on massive
infrastructure there,”

 Even before official work hours commence at
9 a.m., people flood the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, police offices and embassies in
Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital.
 Young people stand in long queues to obtain
the various documentations necessary to
leave the country, like passports and
character certificates.

Every other
household’s problem

 He belongs to a middle-class family.
 He Chose to study in America in the
discipline of chemical and bio-technical
engineering.
 “There is a demand for pharmaceutical
companies and opportunities can be created
here,” informs Silwal.
 He wishes to establish a bio-tech firm which
focuses on gene therapy in Nepal. However,
he is sceptical as he sees better
opportunities in the west.

 “University opportunities are limited in
Nepal. We have to develop our educational
system and make it qualitative and research
oriented,”
 “Politics in Nepal is in a state of limbo
making the country detrimental. Realistically
no one is willing to return if the country’s
situation is such,” opines Silwal.

 27 year old, is a young Nepali aspiring to go
abroad. A native of Janakpur, he spends
hours at Internet cafes and counseling
centers researching opportunities to study
abroad.
 “I want to go abroad for a good job and a
secured future,” he says.
 His family sold their land and took out loans
to send him to medical school in China.

 He currently works at a private hospital here
and earns 25,000 rupees per month.
 Spent few months working in Gulmi district
to serve the people, as he says he dreamed
of becoming a doctor so he could serve his
country.
 But with the increasing cost of raising a
family and paying back interest , he says he
can't stay in Nepal and help the needy.

 “There aren’t any good opportunities here,”
he says. “The important moments of my life
are being wasted here. I don’t want that to
happen.”
 The United States is his first destination of
choice. But if can’t obtain a U.S. visa, he
says he’ll try to go to a European country – or
any developed country.

 “We only implement programs as far as our
budget goes,” Shah says “If the country
realizes our needs, we can come back in
future,” .
 But for Ishwor Wagle, it’s a different story.
“I’m moving to the U.S. with my family,” he
says. “I’m not obligated to return.”

 He also says that there is not much
opportunity to advance as he comes from a
middle-class family outside the capital.
 As frustration mounted, he and his wife
applied for Diversity Visas last year.
 “People like me don’t get respected here,”
he says. “Now I’ll go to America and have a
good future for me and my children.”

 His wife won a Diversity Visa to the United
States.
 “I want to embark to my dream destination
as soon as possible,” he says
 Wagle is also active in politics and is
affiliated with the Nepali Congress party.
 He thought he could end poverty,
unemployment and corruption here. But his
sole effort couldn’t do much.

 She thought that she had educated her
children enough to launch successful lives
here.
 Instead, they migrated. Though Sharma’s son
sends her money, she says that care and love
are more important at her age.
 She lives alone and says she has no one to
take care of her.

 Sharma has visited her son and daughter in
the United States
 She hasn’t been able to spend more than a
month in the foreign land.
 Because she was left in a community that
doesn’t speak her language while her
children and grandchildren are off at work
and school.

 “My son and daughter-in-law don’t want to
return,” she says. “And old people like us
want to die in our own country.”
 Though she lives alone, she says that she’s
not alone in her predicament.
 “It’s not only my problem,” she says, “It’s
every other household’s problem.”

The problem of Braindrain

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