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Bibek Poudel had a very detailed plan for succeeding in Canada. He would graduate from college, then work to gain experience in his IT field, setting himself up as a digital nomad—someone who could get a job and support himself basically anywhere, at any time.

Then his luck ran out. On March 1st Bibek flew back to Nepal after five years, without getting permanent residency (PR). But in today's episode he tells me that is not an entirely bad development, and that he has another detailed plan to return.

Unlike Aayush Pokharel, who we talked to in our last episode, Bibek hit significant delays on his journey to PR status. He graduated, but had to strengthen a few specific skills before he could start a job. Then he had to wait to apply for an opening in the IT workstream that would lead to his PR until his employer had been given the green light. 

By the time that approval came, the Ontario government decided it no longer needed skilled IT workers and Bibek had to shift to a category that requires more points to qualify than he had. 

Eventually he just ran out of time.

Both Bibek and Aayush were well entrenched in Canada when the federal government started shutting the door to international students a couple of years ago. They had, and still have, good opportunities to succeed. 

But many other students are likely to cross Canada off of their list of countries to study in. I've been hearing that Australia is again a preferred destination. It's closer to Nepal and has a huge Nepali diaspora.

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Aayush Pokharel is very close to getting his 'invitation' to apply for permanent residency in Canada. It's taken the former student five years to get to this point, and he's had some tough times along the way. 

Not surprisingly, he's learned a few things, and has some advice for current students in Nepal contemplating the path that he took.

Resources

Government of Canada immigration

Immigration jargon
    - CRS = Comprehensive ranking system
    - CLB = Canadian Language Benchmark
    - PG = Post-graduate
    - PNP = Provincial nominee programme

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It's been more than to months since I posted an episode, so I thought it was about time I was in touch. 

I'm speaking from the top of a hill, catching my breath as I look back at the ocean and a large island beyond the harbour. Continuing my walk I can see snow on the local mountain, so it's quite chilly here, for the west coast of Canada. 

I've been thinking a lot about the podcast. I do plan to continue it, with a focus both on Nepal and Canada. The government here has been making lots of changes to immigration rules in the past couple of years, and I want to talk to Nepalis about how they've been affected. They could be people already living here, those who planned to come — and have maybe changed their minds — and even those who have to leave now because of a new rule. 

You can help by putting me in touch with people you know who have stories to tell. If they don't want to be identified, we can arrange that. Text me with their info at the link at the top of the notes above, or email me at nepalnowpod(at)gmail.com. Meanwhile, I will keep talking to people and plan to post the first interview in January 2026. 

Until then, Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and I'll talk to you next time.

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Today you will hear the last episode that I recorded in Kathmandu. I had long wanted to talk to a representative from a so-called labour receiving country – one that hires some of the hundreds of thousands of Nepali migrant workers who leave home each year to earn their livelihoods abroad. Although it was difficult to speak to someone from an embassy in Kathmandu, I did make contact with a project of the Korean International Development Agency, or KOICA, called K-HaMi. It focuses on reintegrating workers after they return to Nepal from South Korea. p3eiiquy

What I learned was how complicated that process can be. It includes the regular pre-departure training, plus more if, at the start of the migration process, a worker is already interested in learning about reintegration. Then there are choices of various skills training while abroad and finally, more training after workers return. It feels a little like choosing to stay in Nepal can actually be more work than signing up for another job abroad.

Unfortunately, because this project started only in 2023, there seems to be a lack of hard data on its impact to date. But my guest Simran Shah says she feels positive that the project is having an impact. One correction: in the interview Simran says that K-HaMi has worked with 2,500 migrants to date. That figure should be more than 10,000 migrant workers.

Resources

K-HaMi project on YouTube

2024 report on returnee migrant workers’ experiences in Nepal

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In Monday's Kathmandu Post I read short bios of two of the 19 protesters killed by police in the GenZ demonstration one week ago. Both were from Nepal's Far West — Deepak Singh Saud was from Baitadi district, Subas Bohara from Bajhang. Deepak was 18, Subas 21.

I send my condolences to their loved ones. 

As you probably know by now, the protest was about much more than the recent Nepal Government ban on social media. It was an explosion of frustration at how the political class has been running this nation for decades, longer than many protesters had been alive. And for a lot of those disaffected young people, the fact that they had to leave their country in order to find a job or continue their studies was a slap in the face, a symptom of all that was wrong with Nepal.

In fact, both Deepak and Subas had been learning a foreign language so they could go abroad and get the sort of job they felt they needed to earn a decent living — Subas to Japan, Deepak to South Korea. I think there's a good chance that other victims had also considered leaving Nepal.

I've been looking into migration and Nepal long enough to know that, despite the horror stories — and there are many — it does have benefits. Individuals can earn much more money than at home. They can pick up skills and women in particular can grow in confidence as they navigate a new society more independently than they would in Nepal. The country of course is a winner thanks to the money that migrants send home — at least a quarter of Nepal's overall income these days, one of the highest rates of the world's labour sending countries. 

But overall, to me nothing shows more plainly the failure of the entrenched leaders of the political parties than the hundreds of thousands of young people who every year feel that they have no option but to leave their country and loved ones to try and launch themselves into their adult lives in a strange land. 

I really really hope that in this new Nepal young people will feel like they have a choice — to leave, or to stay; a real choice, one whose pros and cons need to be carefully weighed before deciding. It will definitely take time to get there but last week a door opened that could lead in that direction, unfortunately not without unforgettable sacrifices.

Resources

Kathmandu Post article about Deepak Singh Saud

Post article about Subas Bohara

Detailed article about the GenZ andolan by Pranaya Rana

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Help steer the future of Nepal Now as it moves to Canada in September 2025. Fill out the survey. It takes just 3 minutes. 

You might have guessed from the headline for this episode that I am leaving Nepal. It’s a family move actually, back to my home country of Canada. Of course I will miss Nepal, where I’ve now spent 14 years of my life, but I’m confident we’ll be back one day. I will also miss doing this: speaking to all of you every couple of weeks about this fascinating place and its people. Thank you for taking the time to listen.

I’m not sure what the next episode of Nepal Now will sound like, or when I’ll be able to post it, but I can say 100% that there will be another one. So keep checking this feed. While waiting you can explore our back catalogue of more than 100 episodes since 2020, which you can listen to for free. 

So, Nepal Now… from Canada. I’m not yet sure what that sounds like. Could I actually pull off a Nepal-focused podcast from 11,000 km away? I could simply change the focus to Nepalis in Canada. That would certainly be easier — but I have the feeling that you all might tire of hearing those stories rather quickly. 

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The Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 21 hit Nepali migrant workers hard. Thousands working in India were blocked from crossing the border into Nepal. Others overseas were laid off and confined to living quarters with little or no food, no money, and no tickets home.
 
We recorded this episode in the midst of that dark period. While it describes the terrible conditions and uncertainty affecting migrants, it is at the same time a good primer on some of the core issues around migration and Nepal. With my guests Bijaya Rai Shrestha of the NGO AMKAS and academic Ramesh Sunam we touched on topics including:

• the ban on women migrating to work in Persian Gulf countries
• the impact of caste on decisions to migrate
• the ‘invisibility’ of Nepalis who migrate to work in India and
• the need for stronger policies from Nepal’s governments.

Unfortunately it seems like some of the optimism you’ll hear in this episode was unrealistic —little seems to have improved in the migration file in the past five years.

Resources

AMKAS

Ramesh Sunam

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The rise in the numbers of Nepalis migrating to Japan in recent decades has been phenomenal — and I think overshadowed by movement to countries like the US, UK and Australia. Today the Asian country is by far the top destination for students going abroad to earn degrees and, in many cases, a path to settlement in the country. 

I doubt that you would ever guess that the origin of today’s migration to Japan is colonial Britain’s presence in Nepal’s neighbour, India. I’ll leave today’s guest, visual anthropologist Dipesh Kharel, to draw out that thread for you. He says that the link has led to a current population of about 230,000 Nepalis in Japan — five times more than the number of Indian migrants. One sign of how fully settled they have become in their new country is that many women no longer return to Nepal to give birth. 

By the way, Dipesh mentions the Japanese currency, the yen, a couple of times. As of today, 1 Nepali rupee was worth 1.07 yen. 

Resources

About Dipesh Kharel

Nepali students’ destinations (2023-24)

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Undoubtedly the Nepal Heritage Recovery Campaign has been a success. In less than five years it has led the identification and return to Nepal of about 160 religious icons — statues, paintings, and more. These were stolen from this country and displayed or stored in public museums and private collections globally since Nepal opened to the world in the 1950s. 

Now what? The aim of the NHRC is to have these gods and goddesses (devi-devta in Nepali) returned to their communities, we learn in today’s chat with Alisha Sijapati, a founding member and former director of the campaign. Some have made that journey, such as the Lakshmi-Narayan statue taken from Patko Tole in Patan in 1984, but most have not. Blocking their way is a lack of resources and underpinning that, an absence of understanding of the importance of heritage to the health of this country, she adds. 

Today’s episode is an update to our conversation in October 2021 with NHRC member Rohan Mishra, titled Recovering Nepal’s Stolen Art and Restoring its Culture. I encourage you to search for it wherever you’re listening now. If you want more of these interviews, sign up to be a supporter wherever you’re listening by clicking on the Support the Show link.

For those of you in Nepal, the NHRC will take another step towards raising the profile of the living heritage of the stolen gods and goddesses in an exhibition at Patan Museum from July 31st to August 4th.  

Resources

Nepal Heritage Recovery Campaign

Previous episode - Recovering Nepal’s Stolen Art and Restoring its Culture 

Lain Singh Bandel 

Juergen Schick

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Talking to Prakash Gurung made me realize that not all migrant workers from Nepal are leaving the country out of necessity. When I interviewed him last year the 26-year-old told me about his failed migration attempts – as both a student and a migrant worker – but I got the sense that he had options in-country as well; he just preferred the idea of leaving. I think there are many people in similar circumstances — they could find a job here at home, but believe that abroad they might be able to save more money, live in better conditions, or have more promising future prospects, for themselves and/or their family. 

One year later Prakash has shelved his migration plans. In their place he has chosen an unusual path—learning classical guitar. A guitar player since his teenage years, Prakash says that playing classical requires much more discipline than playing and singing rock songs, including hours of daily practice. He’s found a teacher to guide him on that journey. 

As you’ll hear, Prakash is now talking about finding satisfaction and inner peace on his musical quest. This is a huge turnaround from the half-hearted pledges he was making when we talked in 2024, and a pleasant surprise to me. 

Want more of these interviews? Sign up to be a supporter wherever you’re listening by clicking on the Support the Show link.

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Nepal Now is produced and hosted by Marty Logan.