Nepali migrant workers in India are returning home after Gen Z-led anti-corruption protests turned into clashes with police. “We know nothing,” migrants boarding buses in India to Nepal told the BBC, “but people at home have asked us to come back.”
Nepali Migrant Workers
Nepal is a country highly dependent on its citizens working abroad: according to the World Bank, received remittances have continued to grow in Nepal, making more and more of its GDP. In 2024, remittances made up 33% of Nepal’s GDP, the second largest in the world after Tajikistan.
More than 70% of households receive money from family members working abroad, with remittances accounting for a third of household income. Most comes from Nepali workers in Gulf states and Malaysia, with India coming in as fifth in the list.
The combination of all these factors makes Nepal the world’s fourth most remittance-dependent country.
There are migrants in different situations across India, but almost all keep in touch with their heritage and culture, despite the exodus of workers across generations. Most are workers who left their families behind to work low-wage jobs as security guards, cooks, and domestic help.
They retain their Nepali nationality and have no Aadhaar (India’s biometric identity card), the lack of which tends to bar them from basic services in India.
Others moved with families, building their lives up in India, often with both Aadhaar and Nepali citizenship, but they maintain strong ties to Nepal, many returning to vote. Nepalis are also the largest nationality among foreign students in India, with the latest official data saying they number 13,000 out of the total 47,000.
Protests and Situation in Nepal
Nepal’s government banned 26 social media platforms, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook among them, after they failed to register with the ministry of communication and information technology. This sparked demonstrations, which culminated in clashes with police, with over 200 people believed to have been injured and 30 killed.
Though the ban was reversed, the Gen-Z-led protests continued across the country. Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has resigned, but with no one else to replace him or seize control, the country is in chaos with no government to lead restoration efforts.
The only group with some agency is the Nepal Army, led by General Ashok Raj Sigdel, whose men patrol the street and maintain a nationwide curfew while politicians’ homes and the parliament were set on fire.
Dilemma: Work or Family
Nepalis in India are in a difficult situation. Return home to protect family and risk losing jobs, or remain abroad, from where they cannot influence what happens in their homeland.
“If I were in Nepal, I would have joined my friends in the protests, though I do not support the destruction of private property,” Abha Parajuli, a Nepali student, told BBC Hindi. “We hope for a better leader to emerge.”
Though the protests began because of corruption and control over public discourse, they were the eruption of dissatisfaction with larger social issues. Remittances are such a significant part of the economy because of joblessness and rising inequality, pushing the younger generation to seek work abroad. India is especially favored due to its open border with Nepal.
“Due to the open border, it is difficult to know the exact number of Nepali citizens working and living in India, but it is estimated to be around 1-1.5 million,” says Jeevan Sharma, a political anthropologist of South Asia at the University of Edinburgh.
“I haven’t thought much about what’s happening back home,” Dhanraj Kathayat, a security guard in Mumbai, said, having lived in India since 1988. “There’s so much joblessness in Nepal; even those with education find it difficult to find work. That’s why people like me had to leave.”
Though analysts argue about how much political influence these workers extend over their homeland, their economic impact is without question. If broader movement begins, it will stretch both Indian and Nepali economies.
“Remittances from India go to the poorest households in Nepal although per capita remittance is much lower than what migrants going to the Gulf or Southeast Asia sent,” says Prof Sharma. “Without it, Nepal’s economy would suffer significantly.”
