Paper short abstract:

This paper aims to understand the functioning of ‘manpower agencies’ and informal brokers (or dalals) that mediate migration of labourers from a peripheral country of Nepal to the global labour market that transforms young Nepali men and women into ‘global commodities’

Paper long abstract:

Labour migration from Nepal to India and more recently to different global destinations has been a major and vital source of income for impoverished rural communities within the troubled Himalayan state. The latest estimate suggests that almost half of all households have at least one migrant or a returnee, and that a quarter of Nepal's GDP is supported by migrant remittances. In the last two decades, the recruitment of Nepali migrants in the global labour market has been facilitated by an 'agency system' that has acquired a growing intensity in Nepal. This paper aims to understand the functioning of 'manpower agencies' and informal brokers (or dalals) that mediate migration of labourers from a peripheral country of Nepal to the global labour market that transforms young Nepali men and women into 'global commodities'. The recruitment agencies and associated brokers remain important players who help the potential migrants by providing information and by facilitating their transit. However, the costs they impose on the migrants are extremely high, unjust and outsight abuse of basic human rights.