Honour Unsung Heroes

Nepali migrant workers are often considered unsung heroes because their contribution to the national economy is not well recognised. As they return home after toiling in foreign soils for years, they feel the state has not given them due respect. One prickly point is that the customs authorities levy even on those possessions and goods they had used abroad. 

Gopal Sunar, 45, of Sindhupalchowk, shares that he had to pay import duties on a mobile phone set at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) upon returning from the UAE after five years. What is more worrisome is that the Department of Customs at the TIA imposes duties on the belongings, such as utensils, clothes and appliances they have used in foreign countries. “The TIA customs office has treated the personal possessions as commercial ones. As a result, the migrant workers have been discouraged from sending goods and gifts to their families and relatives,” says Keshav Prasad Sapkota, a cargo entrepreneur.

A study shows that around 40 per cent of migrant workers send goods and gifts in cargo to their home prior to their departure from foreign soil. The cargos are expected to reach their destinations just before they (migrant workers) arrive at home. Sometimes those unable to return home deliver gifts to the family members, relatives and friends in cargo. This practice has become popular with people working in foreign countries, as this has fostered an emotional bond among family members, relations and friends. But the self-imposed policy of the TIA customs office has hit it as well as the cargo industry, which has employed hundreds of people.  

It is not that the government has not given customs facilities to the returning migrant workers. They are allowed to bring a 32" television set, two mobile phones (one registered and another with customs charges paid), a 25-gram gold ornament for males and a 50-gram gold ornament for females and a limited number of personal belongings. For this, they have to undergo a complicated process and meet tough conditions. But these duty concessions are insignificant compared to other South Asian countries.  

Sri Lanka has implemented a 'remittance duty-free scheme' in which migrant workers, who send USD 1000 in remittance after spending a year abroad, get heavy customs concessions. Similarly, India grants substantial customs duty exemptions on gold, mobile phones and laptops of the migrant workers. Bangladesh, through the Expatriate Welfare Desk, has eased the customs process and given import duty exemption on goods and gifts of returnee migrant workers. 

This is pathetic that Nepali migrant workers fail to enjoy facilities on par with those of neighbouring nations, even though the remittances they send back home contribute 23 per cent to the GDP and form a substantial amount of foreign reserves. Foreign employment has played a critical role in raising the living standards of 56 per cent of Nepali households. But here is also a tragic fact: at least three bodies of Nepali workers land at the TIA daily on average. This is because they have to work in difficult, dirty and dangerous conditions.  

The country’s unemployment rate stands at 11.4 per cent, according to the 2021 report of the Central Bureau of Statistics. Manufacturing is weak and the agriculture sector is disincentivised, a reason that impels Nepali youths to search for better livelihoods and job prospects in an alien land. Thus, the state should not delay in recognising the sacrifices and roles of migrant workers in alleviating poverty and sustaining the economy. It is imperative to bring labour-friendly policies and laws to provide facilities to returnee workers based on remittance certificates through a simplified customs process. Failing to respect the uncelebrated heroes will only do injustice to them.