KATHMANDU, Aug 1: A total of 1,517 Nepali migrant workers lost their lives while working abroad in the fiscal year (FY) 2024/25, according to the Foreign Employment Board (FEB). Of them, the board facilitated the transportation of 1,086 bodies directly to the victims’ homes, covering the cost of ambulances.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday to present the board’s achievements and upcoming programs, Executive Director Dr. Dwarika Upreti said the board also brought back 481 bodies to Nepal from various countries and handed them over to their families at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).
“We brought back the bodies of 481 individuals who died abroad due to various reasons and handed them over to their families at TIA. Similarly, we covered the ambulance costs to deliver the bodies of 1,086 individuals directly to their homes,” he said.
He stated that all families of the deceased have been provided with financial assistance and claimed that the board spent Rs 1.23 billion on financial assistance in the last FY.
Helping Nepali Workers in South Korea amid COVID and Beyond
“All 1,517 families of the deceased have received financial assistance from the board,” Upreti said.
The board spent Rs 1.23 billion on these relief efforts in the last FY.
The FEB provides compensation to the families or legal heirs of migrant workers who die while working abroad.
In FY 2024/25, the board also awarded foreign employment scholarships to 3,430 children of migrant workers.
According to the press briefing, the board plans to honor returnee migrant workers who have started self-employment in Nepal. In addition, it will award journalists who write on issues related to foreign employment in the current FY 2025/26.
As per the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security (MoLES), the number of new labor permits issued until mid-March 2025 reached 6,461,019. Of the total, 93.3 percent were male and 6.7 percent female. In the last FY alone, 317,063 individuals—41,320 women and 275,743 men—received new labor permits.
Including renewals, the total number of labor permits issued until mid-March last FY reached 534,471, with 11.3 percent issued to women and 88.7 percent to men.
Additionally, 7,509 Nepali workers migrated to South Korea under the EPS system in FY 2024/25, compared to 10,855 in the previous FY.
Several welfare programs targeting migrant workers and their families are being implemented at the government level.
By mid-March 2025, a total of 336 workers—317 men and 19 women—suffered physical disabilities or illness while working abroad. The government provided them with financial support amounting to Rs 147.49 million.
A Safe Migration Program, jointly run by federal, provincial, and local governments, is currently in its fourth phase. It operates in 267 local units across 68 districts and has provided foreign employment-related services to 454,231 individuals as of mid-March 2025.
