Nepal’s migrant labour system runs through manpower agencies. So do many of its abuses

Recruiters say flawed government policies and weak regulation are to blame, while officials accuse agencies of routinely violating foreign employment laws.

Private recruitment agencies are the main gateway to overseas employment for Nepalis, handling about two-thirds of workers who leave the country for jobs abroad. Yet the manpower companies that connect hundreds of thousands of workers with foreign employers remain at the centre of criticism over Nepal’s troubled labour migration system.