Nepal’s Kuwait domestic worker ban fails to stop migration, leaves thousands outside protection

Nearly 69,000 Nepalis, mostly women, are working as domestics in the Gulf kingdom and many without access to Nepal’s legal protections.

Nearly 69,000 Nepalis are employed as domestic workers in Kuwait despite a government ban on sending workers for such jobs, proof that Nepal’s migration policy is increasingly out of step with the economic realities driving women to seek work abroad.