Cause and Effect of Foreign Employment (A Case Study of Mithukaram Vdc of Nawalparasi District)

Abstract

Literally, migration refers to phenomena and the process of moving of peoplefrom oneplace to another, such as crossing intra or international geographicalboundaries.Sociological studies of migration are diverse and usually form partof larger problems in (for example) research into kinship, social networks oreconomic development.Themotive for migration includes political, economic,social and environmental causes, which are based on different reasons. The migration for foreign labour has a long history in Nepal. It started evenbefore the first Nepali men travelled to Lahore in theearly 19 century to jointhe Indian army and even before the recruitment of the first Nepalese to theBritish 'Gurkhas' in 1815/16.After India's independence (1945 AD), both Britainand India have made separate arrangements for continuity of Gorkharecruitment. The migration of youth for foreign employment speedily increasedespecially after the restoration of multiparty democracy (B.S. 2047) andinduction of liberalization policy. vi th With the enactment of Foreign Employment Act, 1985 Nepalese started tomigrate beyond India particularly to the Gulf (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait,etc.) where oil boom has created massive demand for foreign labour. Similarly,in February 2001, the Malaysian government officially "opened" its labourmarket to Nepali workers. This study is aboutforeign employmentto different countries of the world. It is aknown fact that Nepali labour migrants are scattered around the world andmany of them are in India. It is estimated that the number of Nepalese migrantsare working 'Overseas', meaning beyond India that accounts 700,000.About fivepercent (35,000) of these are women. At least another 700,000 work in theprivate sector in India, and 2,50,000 in India's public sector. This micro level study on 'Cause and Effect of Foreign Employment', is confinedto 'Mithukaram' Village Development Committee of Nawalparasi district inWestern Development Region of Nepal. The main objectives of this study is to describe the causes and socio-economiceffects of the foreign employment of the study area. The study comprises 70returned emigrant workers representing all wards of the VDC and different casteand ethnic groups. All the emigrants foundto bemale. The majority of the people in the village do not have sufficient land, despitebeing farmer, as a main source of earning the livelihood. All the representedhouseholds are engaging in subsistence farming. Foreign employment or labormigration has been an important occupation among males in the village tomaintain the household. Remittance is used for immediate food and otherhousehold requirements, pay debt, buy new lands and houses. There are various push and pull factors for foreign employment. In recent years,the volume (trend) of labour migration has increased due to increasingpopulation pressure, unemployment and prevailing political conflict.