“Migration gains”, written by Moheindu Chemjong, JMDI Focal Point for Nepal

Dec 22, 2014

JMDI Focus area: 

Migration and Development – General

Country: 

Nepal

This Op-ed entitled “Migration gains” by Moheindu Chemjong, JMDI Focal Point in Nepal, was initially published in My Republica.

 

The 18th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit recently held in Kathmandu saw the eight heads of state agree to collaborate on migration management. Likewise, the Government of Nepal (GoN) recently launched the first national report on the status of the Labor Migration for Foreign Employment from Nepal 2013-2014. These recent important examples prove that the management of labor migration in Nepal is commanding the attention of policymakers and prompting dialogues for multi-stakeholder cooperation to address the many facets of labor migration.

Migration in Nepal has a long history with an outflow of migration to the neighboring India up to the mid-1980s, and dates back to more than 300 years ago. Fast forward to the 1990s which was marked by the restoration of democracy and where the democratically elected government brought about economic liberalization which coincided with the demand for industrial workers in the Middle East, creating massive opportunities for Nepali labor migrants. Economic globalization has also added to the internationalization of the labor markets and Nepal was not unaffected.

An estimated 1,700 Nepalis leave the country every day for foreign employment and the number of Nepalis working abroad is almost two million. These numbers, however, do not include Nepali migrants who use irregular channels, through the porous border to India and those who depart to foreign countries via India. This out-migration to India, Malaysia or the Middle East has brought about multiple changes in the socio-cultural fabric of the country.

Indeed, migration has been an alternative livelihood opportunity for many Nepali households. Remittances have become an important source of Nepal’s revenues and have been instrumental in keeping current account deficit under control in spite of negative trade. Remittances are first and foremost person-to-person transactions and as such elude interventions by financial institutions and government, but still add up to almost 25 percent of the country’s GDP.

Remittances from India but also from other destinations which are transferred through informal channels are not recorded. Thanks also to remittances; the country has halved the percent of people living on less than US $1.25 a day in the last seven years, thereby contributing to the attainment of MDG 1. Besides remittances, migrants also bring home local capital, human capital and affective capital (commitment and goodwill). 

Slowly rising from the ashes of the post-conflict years, Nepal is moving towards a peaceful democracy. It is hoped that the long awaited democratic and inclusive Constitution will create the condition for Nepal’s graduation from Least Developed Country to a prosperous and developing nation. The government has been making continuous efforts to develop an enabling environment to accelerate development in partnership with private, corporate and non-governmental actors. But challenges abound. Political stability and a Constitution will hopefully allow the country to move out of energy crisis, reverse the flight of capital, lack of employment opportunities, double-digit inflation, lack of connectivity and so forth, made all the more difficult by the country’s tricky geo-politics.

Yes, remittances played an important role in securing the livelihoods during and in the post-conflict period, but they are only one side of the story; migrants also produce wealth, ideas and social capital. According to Dilip Ratha of World Bank, “Migration alone cannot bring about development and where political and economic reforms are absent; remittances are more likely to lead to inflation and greater inequality than a positive change.”

At the global levels, migration and its relation to development are becoming increasingly important. The first UN High Level Dialogue in 2006 firmly established the Migration and Development (M and D) agenda leading to the creation of the Global Forum on M and D and this debate will continue to gain prominence in upcoming years.

In Nepal’s case, the government has made efforts to improve labor migration processes including the enforcement of the Foreign Employment Act, 2007 and its Regulations as well as the establishment of the Foreign Employment Promotion Board and the Foreign Employment tribunal, the establishment of the Labor Desk at the TIA and the recruitment of the Labor Attaches for Nepali Embassies and Consular Offices. Similarly, the Labor Bank and Labor Village which are in the pipeline are significant moves to creating favorable environment in utilizing earned capital, acquired know-how and experiences for Nepal’s economic development.

There is not enough empirical research on impact of migration on development in Nepal. The Foreign Employment Act 2007 stresses that the returnee migrants be recognized as partners for national development and poverty reduction through the utilization of their skills and saving including the creation of employment and other re-integration opportunities. The need to incorporate migration in sectoral policies is an ever-growing priority. Given that migration is here to stay and since the deadline for the country to graduate from a LDC to a developing country by 2022 is fast approaching, the time has come to integrate M and D concerns into the legislation, policies and programs at the local as well as the national levels.

It is high time for the denizens of the country, the policymakers, the government, the civil society and the development partners to make concerted efforts on harnessing the potentials of returnees as well as the diaspora! Among many efforts, the Joint Migration and Development Initiative (JMDI), a global initiative running in eight countries around the world including Nepal, is a realization that efforts need to be made to maximize beneficial impacts of migration on development!

 

This Op-ed entitled “Migration gains” by Moheindu Chemjong, JMDI Focal Point in Nepal, was initially published in My Republica here: http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=88861