Nepalis forced to seek work abroad
While they may face slave-like conditions, abuse and even death in places like Qatar, good jobs remain scarce in their homeland
Raju Prasad Lamichhane is thinking of leaving Nepal again to drive trucks in Qatar even though his father died while working in the Gulf emirate.
"What else can we do? We have no other source of income," Lamichhane said in the half- finished house he started building in Telkot village near Kathmandu with money earned in the Persian Gulf region. "If I could find work here, I would stay."
When he goes, Lamichhane will join at least 400,000 Nepalis expected to leave this year for jobs in construction and as domestic workers in the Gulf and Malaysia.
The treatment of Nepalis building stadiums for the 2022 World Cup soccer tournament in Qatar has come under scrutiny after a report by the The Guardian that dozens had died on building sites between early June and early August.
Both governments dispute those numbers, but say 276 Nepalis died in Qatar last year, 20 per cent while working.
Qatar repeatedly rejected claims of slavery-style conditions on construction sites in the emirate - the world's wealthiest nation per capita. It says it takes its international commitments seriously, and has announced plans to double its number of labour inspectors to 150, though critics question the impact.