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Passage to India: Migration as a coping strategy in times of crisis in Nepal

Coping through migration
Migration outward is not a new phenomenon for Nepal. The country has witnessed a steady trend of eastward migration since as far back as the 18th century, when the Shah rulers encouraged farmers to move to more fertile and less densely populated areas of eastern Nepal and parts of present-day Darjeeling, Sikkim and Bhutan. By the end of the century, tea was being cultivated on 45,000 acres of Darjeeling territory by British civil servants profiting from the sweat and labour being poured into tea gardens, road construction and road maintenance; more than 90 percent of the workers came from Nepal. The colonial presence in India also resulted in the recruitment of Nepali men into Gurkha regiments of the British Indian Army. Over the centuries, Nepal's open border relationship with India endured despite brief hiatuses. In 1950, a Nepal-India Peace and Friendship Treaty was signed, which has afforded citizens of both countries the right to unhindered passage across the over 1400 km-long border, as well as equal employment rights in the other country.

By virtue of its proximity, the open border, established networks and relatively low migratory costs, around 40 percent of Nepali migrants end up in India, especially people from poor, food-insecure areas in the rural hinterland. While India is often the first and 'cheapest' destination for work, internal migration within Nepal also accounts for 30 percent of migration flow, and labour movements to destinations further away – in West Asia and South East Asia, for instance – is on the rise for those with the resources.