KATHMANDU: With nearly four million Nepalis working abroad and remittances contributing close to a quarter of the national GDP, migrant workers remain a vital pillar of Nepal’s economy. Every day, more than 2,000 Nepalis leave the country in search of better employment opportunities overseas.
While foreign employment has boosted remittance inflows, the challenges faced by migrant workers, from departure to return, continue to expose gaps in migration governance. One of the most pressing yet often overlooked aspects is the reintegration of returnee migrant workers into Nepal’s social and economic life.
Each year, thousands of Nepalis return home, some with savings, skills, and international work experience, while others come back burdened with debt, trauma, or health issues. Ensuring their dignified reintegration remains a challenge, as repeatedly highlighted by research and media reports.
Reintegration pilot gains momentum
Although Nepal has long focused on safe migration, structured interventions targeting returnee migrants began relatively late. In July 2022, the government launched the Reintegration of Returnee Migrant Workers (ReMi) project to address this gap.
The initiative aims to support returnees through employment, entrepreneurship, and social reintegration, allowing them to utilize skills and experience gained abroad within the domestic workforce.
ReMi is a four-year pilot project implemented in 20 local levels across Koshi and Madhesh provinces. It is a bilateral initiative of the governments of Nepal and Switzerland, with technical assistance from Helvetas Nepal. The project aligns with federal policies, including the Reintegration Programme Directives, and assigns defined roles to provincial and local governments, particularly through Employment Service Centres (ESCs).
A key feature of the intervention is the coordinated engagement of all three tiers of government, focusing on economic, social, and structural empowerment of returnee migrants.
Achievements at the local level
With only a few months remaining in the first phase, ReMi has helped establish systems for fully functional ESCs in all target local governments. These centers now serve as first-entry points for returnees seeking counseling, referrals, and support.
Team Leader of ReMi at Helvetas Nepal, Madushika Lansakara, said the ESCs have been trained to provide guidance on skills training, job placement, business development, financial literacy, and psychosocial support. Many returnees, she noted, have benefited from entrepreneurship training and facilitation of soft loans through local governments.
The project has also recorded notable social reintegration successes. One case from Katari Municipality in Udayapur involved a male returnee who had suffered severe mental health issues after facing illegal labor conditions abroad. Through counseling, medical support, and financial assistance facilitated by ReMi, his health condition improved significantly.
Training programs in poultry farming, goat rearing, tea cultivation, and entrepreneurship have particularly attracted women returnees. According to project data, 16,853 individuals were reached through awareness and orientation programs, while 3,030 returnee migrants registered at local governments to receive reintegration services.
Persistent challenges
Despite positive outcomes, structural challenges persist. The Nepali labor market still lacks sufficient capacity to absorb returnees into quality, well-paying jobs, increasing the risk of re-migration.
Other challenges include skills mismatch, underutilization of experience gained abroad, social stigma, especially against women returnees, psychological stress, limited institutional sustainability, and inadequate resource mobilization across government tiers.
Scaling up efforts
The Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security (MoLESS) is exploring ways to strengthen reintegration efforts through improved data integration. Joint Secretary Krishna Prasad Sapkota said the ministry is working to build on existing immigration records to create more comprehensive datasets that would enable better support for returnees.
Calling ReMi a pilot initiative, Sapkota said the government is preparing to expand the model across all 753 local levels. He said reintegration activities are being integrated into the National Employment Programme and reflected in the national budget.
“Learning from past interventions, the government aims to make local levels fully responsible for implementation, while federal and provincial governments focus on monitoring and facilitation,” he said, adding that the second phase of ReMi after July 2026 would be implemented at full scale with strong emphasis on digitization.
At the local level, ReMi project coordinator at Diktel Rupakot Majhuwagadhi Municipality in Khotang, Ojan Babu Acharya, said awareness-raising remains a priority to ensure smoother community reintegration. He stressed the need to focus on younger early returnees, who are more likely to adapt quickly and engage in entrepreneurship. However, he identified the lack of reliable data as a major obstacle.
Way forward
The mixed experiences from the pilot project reinforce that reintegration is a crucial component of migration governance. Ensuring decent livelihoods, financial stability, social dignity, good health, and entrepreneurial opportunities for returnee migrant workers requires robust coordination among all three tiers of government.
As Nepal continues to rely heavily on foreign employment, strengthening reintegration mechanisms is no longer optional, it is an urgent national necessity.
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