Foreign labour migration in Nepal in relation to COVID-19: analysis of migrants’ aspirations, policy response and policy gaps from disaster justice perspective

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper examines the effectiveness of migration policies in dealing with the challenges that Nepalese migrants faced during this pandemic from a disaster justice perspective. Like in other periods of natural or human-made crises, the Nepal Government brought new policies and programmes to help the victims in their reintegration. In this context, this paper examines what policies and programmes worked and what did not work based on the findings of a large survey conducted among migrants and qualitative information collected during the implementation of a programme on reintegration. The paper highlights that understanding the social vulnerability of migrants is critical to devising policies that could benefit them in such disasters. It demonstrates that socially vulnerable groups are not only disproportionately affected by disasters and are less capable of resilience and recovery; they are also not supported well by public institutions like the government. This situation makes such migrants further vulnerable to poverty, physical exploitation and psychological stresses, which calls for policies and programmes that support them in preparedness and, in the event of a disaster, long-term recovery until they become resilient. This study shows that local governments are in a better position to target the ‘socially vulnerable’ and to implement reintegration programmes.