Banned to Death: Why must Nepal lift migration bans on domestic work?

Abstract

For over 25 years, the Government of Nepal has treated migration bans as its primary tool for protecting women who migrate abroad for domestic work. Since 2017, a blanket ban has prevented Nepali women from accessing formal migration pathways for domestic work, whilst since 2020 the ban has been conditionally eased subject to seven preconditions, the most consequential being a requirement that destination countries first sign a Bilateral Labour Agreement (BLA) in domestic work.

This report presents cumulative evidence from three interdependent research projects involving more than 150 community members, 81 documented mobility stories, interviews with over 70 migration-sector actors, and 17 in-depth family testimonies relating to migrant deaths. The evidence demonstrates that the migration ban has failed on its own terms: it has not prevented Nepali women from migrating for domestic work, but it has reduced their access to legal protection, state support, and accountability mechanisms when harm occurs. The report finds that:

· Nepali women continue to migrate for domestic work through informal channels, but without legal recognition, state support, or access to protection mechanisms.

· The ban restricts the mobility of women from marginalised caste, ethnic, and low-income communities whose migration decisions are shaped by poverty and limited opportunities.

· By pushing migration outside formal systems, bans increase exposure to deception, exploitation, abuse, disappearance, and death whilst reducing accountability.

· Women migrating outside official systems remain invisible in state records, limiting their access to rescue, justice, and compensation.

· Bilateral Labour Agreements (BLAs) in domestic work cannot substitute for enforcement, worker participation, access to justice, and effective Nepali mission-led protection systems.

Based on this evidence, the report recommends replacing migration prohibition with a rights and dignity-based framework. The key recommendations are to:

I. Immediately lift the ban and create accessible legal migration pathways for domestic workers;

II. Protect Nepali women already abroad regardless of migration status, including through stronger embassy support, legal assistance, and emergency protection mechanisms;

III. Reform social protection, compensation, and repatriation systems for migrant workers and their families;

IV. Use Bilateral Labour Agreements as protection mechanisms rather than barriers to migration;

V. Reform recruitment systems and reduce dependence on unregulated brokers;

VI. Support returnee workers and challenge stigma associated with women's labour migration;

VII. Strengthen accountability mechanisms and migration data systems to ensure migrant deaths, disappearances, and exploitation are properly recognised and addressed.

The evidence presented in this report shows that migration bans have made Nepali women's migration less visible, less regulated, and less safe. Nepal's migration governance should move away from restricting women's mobility and towards ensuring that all migrant workers are recognised as rights holders entitled to protection, and accountability. Lifting the ban is the first step towards a just and fair migration governance where women citizens of Nepal can migrate with dignity.