6/22/2021
South Asia’s migrants share problems, share solutions | Nepali Times
Many lost their jobs and were stranded, and each sending country’s government had to
embark on massive repatriation exercises (https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/one-wayticket-home-for-overseas-nepali-workers/) to bring back hundreds of thousands of
workers amid travel restrictions, flight shutdowns and public health risks. Migrants who
returned did so to rudimentary reintegration programs, battered economies and strained
health systems.
With the Gulf accounting for over 77% (Bangladesh) to over 96% (Pakistan) of annual outmigration in 2019, it has long been recognised that the reliance of many South Asian
countries on a handful of destination countries in the GCC has made them vulnerable to
macroeconomic and geopolitical shocks in these countries (see below).
This was seen in the 2014 fall of oil prices, in the blockade of Qatar and recent geopolitical
instability in the region. Other policies such as the Gulf’s nationalisation policies that
prioritise recruitment of locals and has banned entry of foreigners in certain sectors also
influence
recruitment of workers, pressuring countries to think about diversification
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Shares
strategies.
https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/south-asias-migrants-shared-problems-share-solutions/
6/19