The government of Nepal has banned its citizens from travelling to Russia or Ukraine for employment after 10 young men were killed and dozens more reported missing while fighting, predominately in the Russian military.
More than 200 Nepali soldiers are believed to have enlisted in the Russian army since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Nepal’s foreign ministry had said, and more than 100 of them have gone missing. A smaller number are believed to be fighting in the Ukrainian army.
“Work permits for Russia and Ukraine have been temporarily halted until further arrangements are made to minimise potential risks and losses for Nepali nationals entering these war-ravaged countries,” Kabiraj Upreti, a director at the department of foreign employment, told the state broadcaster RSS.
The extraordinary losses have prompted demands from Kathmandu that Nepali fighters not be deployed on either side of the conflict, and that the remains of those killed be repatriated and compensation paid to their families.
Nepali soldiers have fought for generations in the British and Indian armies, where Gurkha units have served mainly as infantry and in specialist roles. Thousands of Nepalis also served as contract workers and security guards during the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But increasingly, people-smugglers have brought young Nepali men into Russia’s war in Ukraine, where many have been offered fast-track citizenship or salaries far larger than they could earn at home. Twelve people were arrested in Nepal in December for trafficking about 150-200 men to Russia, charging them $9,000 for entry to Russia on tourist visas and then coercing them to enlist with the Russian military.
Rupak Karki, one of two Nepali men buried at a military gravesite in Russia’s Ivanovo region, had sought work in South Korea before travelling to Russia instead on a student visa. He later joined the Russian military operation in Ukraine, hoping to obtain Russian citizenship and earn a larger salary, his family told the Nepali Times. He told his family he would be enrolled on a six-month training course, but was deployed and reported killed in action far sooner.
“There is still a lot of shock and confusion here,” an uncle told the newspaper. “Rupak’s parents are unable to believe that their only son has died without seeing his body.”
A captured soldier, Bibek Khatri, said in a video shared online that he had enlisted in the Russian army because his family needed money and he had wanted to return home “a successful man”.
Tens of thousands of Nepali citizens seek employment abroad each year, many as unskilled labourers in South Korea, Malaysia and the Middle East. They must receive a work permit from the government in order to leave Nepal for employment.
The Nepali government’s decision came just one day after Vladimir Putin signed a decree that would speed up a path to citizenship for the hundreds of foreigners who have enlisted in the Russian army, providing an additional incentive to fight, as both Russia and Ukraine have sought to address personnel shortages.
The new decree would expedite decisions on citizenship for foreigners who enlist in the Russian army or in paramilitary organisations such as the Wagner group for a period of at least one year, and would also entitle their immediate family members to apply for citizenship as well.
Hundreds of migrant workers from central Asia, as well as foreigners from Cuba, Serbia and several African countries, have also been documented as soldiers in the Russian military.
The Nepali government had previously urged Russia to return the bodies of at least six soldiers who had died while fighting in the war against Ukraine since February 2022, and demanded that Russia pay compensation to their families.
The Nepali government has said that another four soldiers have been taken captive by Ukraine.
