Nearly 69,000 Nepalis are employed as domestic workers in Kuwait despite a government ban on sending workers for such jobs, proof that Nepal’s migration policy is increasingly out of step with the economic realities driving women to seek work abroad.

The figures, provided by Kuwait’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Embassy of Nepal in Kuwait, expose the widening gap between government policy and the reality of overseas employment. They also show how restrictions introduced to protect vulnerable workers have failed to prevent migration and have instead pushed many aspiring workers towards informal recruitment channels.

The ban originated from a directive issued on April 2, 2017 by parliament’s International Relations and Labour Committee. The committee instructed the cabinet to stop sending domestic workers to Gulf countries until destination countries introduced protective laws and signed bilateral labour agreements with Nepal.

Following the directive, legal departures for domestic employment came to a halt.

However, official figures show that thousands of Nepalis have continued to work as domestic workers in Kuwait.

According to the diplomatic communication received by the embassy, Kuwait is home to 186,000 Nepali nationals. Of them, 115,000 work in the private sector, 421 in the public sector and 68,900 as domestic staff in private households.

Nepalis now account for around four percent of Kuwait’s total population.

Statistics released on June 30 by Kuwait’s Public Authority for Civil Information show that the country hosts more than 2.8 million foreign workers, including 883,308 domestic workers.

For many Nepali women, the ban has not removed the need to seek employment abroad. Instead, financial pressures have pushed many to rely on informal channels to reach countries where domestic work is in demand.

Sunita Limbu, a domestic worker in Kuwait, said economic hardship forced her to seek employment despite the restrictions.

“I have a five-year-old son and a chronically ill husband,” Limbu told Kantipur. “I need to pay for my son’s education and husband’s treatment. I earn Rs50,000 a month here, but I had to come through unauthorised routes. Had we been allowed to migrate legally, we could at least visit our families during scheduled leave.”

Recruitment networks operating in both Nepal and Kuwait have filled the gap created by the absence of legal channels. In Kuwait, the domestic worker recruitment system is formally regulated. The Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) issues licences to agencies that recruit domestic workers and supply them to employers.

By 2025, as many as 488 manpower agencies held valid licences from PAM. A Kuwaiti employer can pay up to 1,500 Kuwaiti dinars, equivalent to around Rs750,000, to a licensed local agency to hire a domestic worker. Such payments create incentives for recruitment networks in Nepal to identify and send workers through informal arrangements.

Labour migration expert Saru Joshi Shrestha said restrictions alone cannot prevent people from seeking employment abroad when economic opportunities at home remain limited.

“Unless the state guarantees sustainable domestic employment, no administrative prohibition can stop women from seeking livelihoods abroad,” Shrestha said. “When legal avenues are shut down without creating jobs at home, people inevitably find informal routes. The government must regulate the sector rather than enforce ineffective bans.”

A government task force led by Ram Kaji Khadka, head of the Central, West Asia, and Africa Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reached a similar conclusion.

In a report submitted to the foreign and labour ministries, the task force said preventing unskilled or economically vulnerable people from taking up domestic work abroad had diverted them towards networks that arrange travel through visit visas.

The report said most domestic workers come from economically disadvantaged families and include many single mothers. It identified Jhapa, Sindhupalchok, Makawanpur, Morang, Kathmandu, Kavre, Ilam, Nuwakot, Sunsari and Chitwan as major districts of origin.

The report concluded that the ban had increased workers’ vulnerability by limiting their access to social security, emergency assistance and legal protection.

Former Nepali ambassador to Kuwait Madhuban Paudel said the government’s approach had failed to address the underlying challenges faced by domestic workers.

“Those who raise this issue in parliament do not understand the core reality of domestic workers’ plight,” Paudel said. “The state must either enforce a total physical restriction on departures, which is impossible, or regulate the process. Imposing a ban while allowing human trafficking to thrive is no solution.”

Paudel said the policy had also complicated Nepal’s diplomatic engagement with destination countries.

“Destination governments become aggrieved when Nepal labels these workers ‘illegal’ simply because they lacked Nepali labour permits,” he said. “In their eyes, holding a valid passport and visa makes a worker legitimate under domestic law. They maintain that Nepal cannot brand workers illegal once they arrive on their soil.”

The government has also acknowledged that the restrictions have not stopped women from travelling to the Gulf for domestic work.

On May 8, 2025, Foreign Secretary Amrit Kumar Rai informed parliament’s Industry, Commerce, Labour and Consumer Interest Committee that large numbers of Nepali women continue to reach Gulf countries as domestic workers through informal channels despite the existing restrictions.

Nepal has attempted to address the issue by negotiating a bilateral labour agreement with Kuwait that would establish a regulated pathway for domestic workers.

Pitambar Ghimire, spokesperson for the Ministry of Labour, said discussions with Kuwait are ongoing.

“Signing a bilateral labour agreement with Kuwait is a priority for the government,” Ghimire said. “Drafts have been diplomatically exchanged, but we have yet to reach a final consensus.”

However, progress has been slow, partly because of strict conditions set by parliament before domestic workers can be sent abroad again.

On September 29, 2020, the parliamentary committee issued a seven-point directive requiring destination countries to provide separate legal protections for domestic workers.

The conditions include guarantees on minimum wages, weekly and annual leave, social security, occupational safety, 24-hour insurance coverage, overtime payments, dispute resolution mechanisms, pre-departure and post-arrival training, protection against discrimination and strict penalties for abuse by employers.

Nepal has shared draft agreements based on these requirements with Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. However, foreign ministry officials say destination countries have shown limited urgency in signing binding agreements as recruitment networks continue supplying workers through informal channels.

Meanwhile, the Embassy of Nepal in Kuwait faces difficulties assisting workers who arrive outside formal labour migration systems.

Nepali Ambassador to Kuwait Ghanshyam Lamsal said the absence of official records makes it harder for the embassy to provide legal support, insurance assistance and emergency rescue services.

“We have clearly communicated the ground realities and diplomatic complexities to relevant government bodies in Kathmandu,” Lamsal said. “Rescuing workers who arrive through illegal channels poses enormous hurdles.”

The ambassador declined to comment directly on the parliamentary ban.