10. NEPAL: MIGRATION HISTORY AND TRENDS
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cities and towns in Nepal and involve a significant economic investment and capital flight. With the increase in migration, a wide range of Nepalese migrant associations began to form in countries of destination. In 2004 the worldwide nonresident Nepalese organization was established, with chapters in different countries, to bring together in a single body all Nepalese organizations, whether cultural, religious, social, or political. The establishment of Nepalese diaspora organizations of different natures and in different countries has led to the increased engagement of diaspora Nepalese in Nepal’s political and economic development. Migrant remittances have played a key role in sustaining the rural economy and people’s livelihoods during the decade-long Maoist conflict. The official contribution of remittances to Nepal’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2009 was $2.7 billion or 22 percent of GDP. However, with large amounts also being sent outside the official banking system and including remittances from India, the actual contribution of remittances could be as high as 30 percent of Nepal’s GDP (World Bank 2009e). Remittances from Nepalese abroad grew by 20 percent a year between 1995–96 and 2003–04, rising from less than 3 percent of GDP in 1995–96 to about 12 percent by the end of 2003–04 (World Bank 2006c). The Gulf States have become one of the key destinations since the mid-1990s and certainly one of the most dynamic phenomena (Graner and Gurung 2003). The trend over the last two decades shows that about one-third of Nepalese migrants seek travel abroad to the Gulf States to work as contract workers. Unpublished records available at the Department of Labor show that official figures for the early 1990s was only 2,000, which increased to 6,500 in 1997–98 and 20,000 by 1999–2000. In 1997 about 40,000 migrant workers from Nepal went to the Gulf States (Seddon, Adhikari, and Gurung 2002). Official statistics suggest that this number increased to 1,045,655 by 2009–10. The global recession did have an impact on migration flow from Nepal: Migrant worker outflows have decreased by 13 percent. The official statistics show that 217,164 individuals left the country for employment in 2008–09 compared with 249,051 in 2007–08. Overall, the pervasiveness of migration both within and outside of Nepal challenges the notion that Nepal is a traditional and agrarian society. Households have transformed into multilocale households with the out-migration of a large number of men and an increasing number of women to various global destinations. Remittance flows have further boosted the incorporation of Nepal into the global economy, as confirmed by the opening of Western Union outlets even in the remotest areas as soon as road and/or telecommunication networks reach these. As migrant remittances, associated commodification, and market expansion become the defining features of the economy, it is the poorer households that are unable to send migrants that will face increased risk of marginalization.