For Sandesh, an ambitious man from Dang, life in the village was fine but hardly exciting. Sandesh, now 27, worked the land and earned Rs50,000 a month. The days followed a familiar rhythm. Today was much like tomorrow or the day after. Sandesh had bigger dreams.

Sandesh, who the Post is identifying with a pseudonym at his request, arrived in Kathmandu in June 2025. His destination, however, was much farther away. He wanted to go to the United States of America. But he would not take the regular route or follow the usual visa process. Instead, he would get in touch with an ‘agent’, the colloquial word for an intermediary, and take the road less travelled—the so-called ‘donkey route’, a Punjabi term for an irregular migration route in which migrants cross multiple borders, traverse dangerous jungles and travel long overland stretches, often relying on smugglers and facilitators along the way.

Sandesh’s dreams, however, were abruptly cut short. Shortly after crossing into the US, he was detained by immigration authorities. On the night of June 9, Sandesh returned to Kathmandu in handcuffs, carrying little from his American journey but a deportation order and a Rs7 million debt.

That night, he was among a group of 37 Nepalis who arrived in Kathmandu on a chartered flight from the US. Officers from the Nepal Police’s Anti-Human Trafficking Bureau questioned them at the airport. The officials sought information about the networks taking Nepalis to the US through irregular routes. “Many said they would come and file complaints, and we noted their phone numbers and other details before letting them go,” an officer involved in the process said. “But no one came back, and their phones could not be reached.”

Since October 2025, as many as 776 Nepalis have been deported from the United States. But only 17, or about two percent, of those deported have filed complaints with police seeking an investigation. Many fear retaliation, lack proof of their payments or doubt they will ever recover the money they lost.

The US sends deportees to Kathmandu on both chartered and regular flights. As soon as they arrive, officers from the Anti-Human Trafficking Bureau question each person and record preliminary details. Senior Superintendent Nakul Pokharel, chief of the police bureau, said the questioning is intended to gather information about networks that lure people with promises and then leave them stranded.

“It appears that some of the agents are from the same villages and localities as the migrants, so initially, the migrants try to settle the matter with them, perhaps hoping they will return the money,” Pokharel told Kantipur. “If the transaction is not settled even after waiting six or seven months, they come to file complaints.”

According to the Department of Immigration, the number of Nepalis being deported rose sharply after January 20, 2025.

“Most of the deportees are young people who had reached the US through the donkey route,” Ram Chandra Tiwari, the department’s director general, said.

A journey through the jungle

Sandesh, heavily indebted, did not go home after leaving the Tribhuvan International Airport on June 9. He went to the room of his younger brother, who was living in Kathmandu while studying in Grade 12. From there, he repeatedly called the agents who had arranged his journey. No one answered. Eventually, one of them picked up the phone. The agent replied in abusive language and threatened to stop answering altogether.

“Everyone else has switched off their phones,” Sandesh quoted the agent as saying. “I am the only one who has at least answered you.”

Sandesh was not the first person to take the donkey route from his area. Nor would he be the last. Those who had already taken the route repeatedly encouraged him to join them when they spoke online. “At first, I did not pay much attention,” Sandesh said. “Then they said I could pay back the loan comfortably, so I started to raise the money.”

Sandesh began his journey after paying Rs500,000 as the first instalment.

The plan was he would be taken from Kathmandu to Dubai and then to Nicaragua in Central America before moving him to Mexico. From there, as was promised, he would be taken across the border into the US at night.

He was taken to Dubai on a visit visa and kept in a hostel for a long time. The agent continued demanding additional money, saying it was needed to make preparations for the journey.

After six months, he was taken via Bahrain and Chile to Brazil.

“From Brazil, an agent took our entire group to the jungle in Panama,” Sandesh recalled. “In such a journey, I do not remember now which countries we passed.”

At first, he had been told that the journey would involve something like a short trek. It turned out to be much more than that.

From Colombia, he was taken towards Panama. There, he had to cross the Darién Gap, a dense jungle stretching 106 kilometres between Colombia and Panama. The route, which is widely used by smugglers, has also been associated with robberies and theft.

“We heard that many people had their belongings robbed, and that some had fallen and died while walking,” Sandesh said. “It was frightening to just hear about it. Some people who had been robbed of their money could not even take boats to continue their journey.”

Sandesh survived the jungle crossing and reached Panama, where he made a one-off payment of $70 to continue his journey.

After travelling through several countries for a month and a half, he eventually reached Mexico. One night, he climbed over a wall along the border and stepped onto the land of his dreams—the United States.

He had been told not to worry if he was arrested after crossing the border. The agent had said that once he was detained, a case would be filed in immigration court and he would proceed with the asylum process.

But by the time Sandesh climbed over the wall to land on US soil, Donald Trump had already been elected US president.

Trump had pursued tough policies against irregular immigration during his previous term as well. After his election, Sandesh was not even given an opportunity to appeal. He spent some time in detention before an order for his removal was issued.

After paying Rs7 million altogether, Sandesh returned to Kathmandu carrying a bag containing the few belongings he had there.

“After the agents did not return the money, I went to the police and filed a complaint,” he said. “But I have yet to receive my money back.”

Why many stay silent

A police inspector who has investigated cases involving Nepalis deported from the US said that some victims do not have sufficient evidence of the financial transactions they made with agents.

In many cases, agents appear to have taken money through hundi, an informal and illegal money transfer system, so the money never even reaches the relevant person’s bank account, the inspector said.

“Some people have also made transactions entirely in cash,” the inspector said. “That is another reason they try to settle things outside the police rather than approach the authorities.”

Officers say some victims are also threatened and told not to go to the police.

Under Nepal’s Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control) Act 2007, anyone found guilty of the offence can face seven to 10 years in prison. The law also requires compensation of no less than 50 percent of the fine.

For fraud-related offences, a person can face up to seven years in prison and a fine of up to Rs70,000. If the amount involved in the offence is established, it is to be recovered and handed to the victim. If the amount cannot be established, appropriate compensation is to be provided.

An officer at the Anti-Human Trafficking Bureau said these provisions do not give victims confidence that they will recover the money they lost.

On top of that, the lengthy court process, the trouble of having to appear repeatedly at the court and the long time it takes to obtain justice mean that they generally do not want to file complaints, the officer said.

Investigators also say that in most cases, police cannot reach the main accused.

“But in some serious cases, we also seek the assistance of Interpol,” the officer added.

Retired Senior Superintendent Jeevan Shrestha, a former chief of the Anti-Human Trafficking Bureau, recalls the legal difficulties involved in such cases in the past.

“When I was at the bureau, courts would raise the question of how travelling to another country voluntarily could amount to fraud and trafficking under the Human Trafficking Act,” he told Kantipur. “Now, after the law was amended, even if it is established that a person was taken through inducement, temptation or promises, it is considered an offence.”

Shrestha said the amendment has made it easier for police to move forward with legal action. But he said complaints are still not filed because some people do not consider themselves victims.

“Some of those we questioned said they had reached America but had to return because of their own circumstances,” Shrestha said. Some even expressed an intention to try going again. “In many cases, they were also unwilling to file complaints because the agent was someone they knew.”

A 23-month ordeal

Ramesh (also identified with a pseudonym), who was deported on February 7 after spending nearly 13 months in detention in the US following a court-ordered removal, filed a formal complaint with the Anti-Human Trafficking Bureau five months after his return.

After investigating his complaint, police on September 7 filed a case at the Kathmandu District Court against six people on charges related to human trafficking and transportation and fraud.

Police arrested 48-year-old Hari Bahadur Oli of Rukum West, 42-year-old Jay Bahadur KC of Darmakot Rural Municipality in Salyan, and 72-year-old Pema Oda Chumba of Kathmandu.

Hari Bahadur KC of Rukum, 30-year-old Bikram Thapa of Sunkoshi Rural Municipality in Sindhupalchok, and 28-year-old Saraswati Khatri of Rukum were named as absconding defendants in the case.

A bench of Kathmandu District Court Judge Umanath Gautam ordered the accused to be released on bail.

“The main agent is Hari Bahadur KC,” an investigating officer at the bureau said. “We understand that he is abroad.”

Police officers say victims have little expectation of getting justice, partly because the main agents involved in taking people to the US through irregular routes are often not in Nepal.

According to Ramesh’s statement, he was living in his village and studying in Grade 12 when he met Hari Bahadur Oli, a fellow villager who offered to send him to the US.

“He said he would also arrange a job for me at a company and that I could earn around Rs400,000 a month,” Ramesh said in a statement given in the presence of a government attorney. “He told me it would cost only Rs3 million and gave me the WhatsApp number of Hari Bahadur KC abroad, telling me to discuss it further with him.”

Later, on November 17, 2022, Ramesh met them in person at Gongabu Bus Park in Kathmandu.

At the time, he was initially asked to pay Rs1 million for a ticket and visa. He was told he could pay the remaining amount after reaching the US, after he starts working.

He later learned that the plan was to send them directly from Kathmandu to Mexico by air.

“Immigration officials sent us back home, saying there was no hotel booking in Mexico, no transit visa and that our documents were incomplete,” he said. “They then said they would send us two days later from Delhi via Congo, so four or five of us went.”

Ramesh said they then boarded a bus from Swayambhu to Delhi.

He said he was kept in Delhi for a month, during which the agents demanded more money.

“If we were going, we had to pay,” Ramesh recalled. “My family had collected Rs400,000 from home.”

They then travelled to Congo. After spending three months there, Ramesh was taken back to India and then to Dubai, where he was kept for five to seven months.

The agent asked for more money on the pretext that he would be flown by chartered flight from Dubai to Nicaragua. His father continued sending money, but the demands did not stop.

“They took me to Nicaragua and from there to Mexico by car, boat, on foot and by train, passing through Honduras and Guatemala,” Ramesh said in his statement. “Then a Spanish national demanded the money I had, seized my passport, mobile phone and documents, and held me hostage for 23 months.”

He said he was beaten and that videos of the abuse were sent to his family.

“They sent it to my mother and nephew and demanded another Rs5 million,” he said. “After they received the money, they left me stranded in the room. I then escaped and got out.”

After being left on his own, Ramesh contacted a relative in the United States and borrowed money. He then travelled towards the US through an Indian national named Prajit, whom he met in Mexico.

But shortly after he crossed the border, he was detained by a US Border Patrol team. He spent 13 months in detention before being deported to Nepal on February 7.

Meanwhile, four months after he touched down at Kathmandu airport, Sandesh, the man from Dang, has returned to the sleepy village he once left behind. These days, he says, his phone rings constantly with calls from people demanding that he repay his debts. He has no job and no source of income to pay them back. “I’m constantly worried about how I will repay the debt,” he said.