Several programs are organised on International Migrants Day on December 18 in Nepal with the theme ‘Employment with Information and Skills; Basis of Safe Migration’. The day is being observed across the globe to commemorate the adoption of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families by the United Nations General Assembly in 1990. The day highlights the contribution of migrants to the economy of their work country and home country. Conflicts, climate-related disasters and economic pressures continue to force migration of millions of people from their homes in search of opportunities.
Addressing a programme in Kathmandu organised by Tribhuvan University on the occasion of International Migrants Day, Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security, Sharat Singh Bhandari said the skills and capital earned in the course of working abroad should be invested in the self-employment sector for contributing to the nation’s economic development.
Minister Bhandari said the compensation amount provided to the families of those workers who died in the course of foreign employment has been increased from Rs 700 thousand to one million rupees. He stated that the government is carrying out work to address the problems faced by Nepalis who have gone abroad without a work permit and have landed in trouble in foreign lands.
According to the World Migration Report 2024 published by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), an estimated 281 million people are migrants worldwide. Among them,169 million are migrant workers. Poverty, war, internal conflict and insecurity, adverse effects of climate change, search for work and employment, globalization and rapid development of information and communication technology are various factors for migration.
