"Nepali migrants behind bars in GCC plead for help", 29 Mar 2022

Hundreds of migrant worker families in Nepal are desperately waiting for their loved ones to return, with no knowledge of why they were imprisoned or when they will be released. And in many cases, the prisoners themselves appear unaware of the reason they are behind bars.

In 2021, a total of 360 Nepali migrant workers were imprisoned across the Gulf, according to data obtained from the Foreign Employment Board (FEB). The highest number of Nepali prisoners are in Saudi Arabia (143), followed by UAE (136), Kuwait (43), Qatar (31), Bahrain (4), and Oman (3).

...Nepali migrant workers have been imprisoned on various charges ranging from drug abuse to alcohol consumption, quarrelling, theft, and homicide. There are also many instances where workers are arrested for other minor offences such as traffic violations, urination on the roadside, or non-compliance with immigration rules.

He added that the situation of lower-income workers is especially dire as they are likely to have little or no knowledge about these cultural differences. Language barriers further complicate these situations.

The United Nations (UN) encourages sentence transfer – a process of transferring prisoners to their home country to serve their prison sentences – stating that the practice may be a more humane way of treating prisoners...

Nepali human rights activists also say that sentence transfer should be the government’s priority because it improves the lives of both prisoners and their family members...