Nepalis stranded in Moscow take refuge at embassy

KATHMANDU, Oct 7: Human traffickers are taking Nepalese youths to Russia under false promises of finding them good employment, it has been learnt.



The instances of human traffickers increasingly using Russia as a new destination for duping Nepalese youths came to light after 10 stranded Nepali youths reached to the Nepal´s embassy in Moscow seeking refuge.[break]



The youths arrived in the Russian city of Petersburg in July with help of Sri Lankan agent Ahsan Daud, who is currently serving term in a jail in Nepali. Each of them had spent Rs 700,000 to the unscrupulous manpower agent promised them good job in Russia and also to take them to other European countries.



The stranded youths are Diwas Mehta (Sunsari), Prem Bahadur Gurung (Gorkha), Ram Kumar Thapa (Dhading), Himal Tamang (Nuwakot), Prakash Luitel (Bhojpur), Utsab Thakuri (Lalitpur), Rabin Jirel (Dolakha), Amrit Bahadur Katawal Chhetri (Myagdi), Aakriti Basnet (Sunsari) and Nirmala Shrestha (Dhading), according to Nepalese embassy in Moscow.



The victims have named Daud and some Nepalis--Bishnu Khadka, Santosh Nepal, Mahesh Nepal and Srijana Thapa-as involved in the international trafficking racket.



Talking to Republica on the phone, Gahendra Rajbhandari, second secretary at the embassy, said the youths who came to take refuge in the embassy last Monday didn´t have visa or other necessary documents. The stranded Nepalis had entered the country on July 23 on tourist visa that was valid for just 23 days.



The embassy then approached Russian Immigration Office and court to help them get back home as they couldn´t exit the country without a valid visa.

“After we requested, local court in Moscow has given the youths 10 days to leave the country,” said Rajbhandari.



The Nepali youths had traveled in a bus from Petersburg to Moscow as it is mandatory to have a visa for traveling in a train. “With the relentless efforts of four days, we were able to get permission from the court for these youths to leave the country,” Rajbhandari said.



“Students are not allowed to work in Russia. And people coming from Nepal are simply incapable of working in the extreme weather conditions here. Everyone concerned must realize these facts before falling prey to unscrupulous manpower agents,” Rajbhandari further said.

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