The government has decided to keep a record of Nepali migrants returning from overseas jobs through the Tribhuvan International Airport—the only international airport in the country. The government currently lacks exact data of workers returning from the overseas jobs. 

Around 4.5 million Nepalis have acquired permission from the government for foreign employment, according to the Department of Foreign Employment.

Officials at the Ministry of Labour and Employment say plans are afoot to keep a detailed record of returnee workers. The ministry plans to assign a specified desk for the job at the airport. “It has become necessary to collect information of the returning workers as we lack information on that,” said Govinda Mani Bhurtel, ministry spokesperson. 

Lack of credible data on returnee migrant workers have deprived the policy makers from crucial information on the migration trend to third countries. 

The DoFE record shows that a total of 4,583,643 Nepalis have taken approval to work abroad since March 1997. Of them, a total of 165,484 were women. 

The Department of Immigration (DoI), which provides frontline service at the TIA, has failed to maintain a proper record of travellers entering Nepal. Besides migrant workers, the DoI lacks categorised information on those travelling under student and tourist visas.