November 22, 2024
KATHMANDU – A total of 47 Nepalis deported from Russia and Bulgaria have arrived home. Russia repatriated 29 individuals for not attending regular university classes and working without permits, while Bulgaria sent back 18 Nepalis who were victims of human trafficking, officials said.
Russian authorities arrested 34 Nepalis on October 30 from a call centre in Moscow’s Kuzminki area. The following day, a local court approved their deportation. Twenty-nine of them were sent to Nepal on Monday night via an Air Arabia flight and arrived in Kathmandu on Tuesday evening. The remaining five are still undergoing deportation processes.
Many of the deported students said education consultancies had misled them about opportunities in Russia. One student said, “We were told we could study and work without restrictions, but that was untrue. Living in Russia without work was impossible, and we were arrested while working.” Before deportation, they were held at a detention centre in Sakharovo, 60 km from Moscow.
Most of them had gone to Russia two years ago.
An immigration officer at the Tribhuvan International Airport said they didn’t investigate further. “We did not find it necessary to take them into custody for further statements,” said an immigration officer. “All of them were released through standard procedures.”
The returning students said they would discuss whether to file complaints against the education consultancies. “We are all under mental stress right now,” one student said. “We will discuss what steps to take to prevent other students from being exploited like us.”
Keshav Timilsina, president of the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) Russia, said the lack of proper documentation prevented them from receiving legal support.
“If dissatisfied with the court’s decision, an appeal can be filed,” he said. “Relatives and friends of the detained students had contacted the NRNA for assistance. We were prepared to hire a lawyer to pursue legal remedies, but they could not provide documents such as contracts with the employer or proof of university attendance. Without these papers, the plan to appeal was cancelled.”
Sushil Ghimire, Nepal’s acting ambassador to Russia, said the embassy could not assist as the students had violated local laws. “Russian law mandates attendance for students, but most were working instead. Violating labour laws left us with no legal grounds to support them,” he said.
Timilsina said that most students who travelled to Russia through consultancies, except those on government scholarships, have faced such issues. “Russia provides scholarships to 200 Nepali students annually, and those receiving scholarships do not incur any expenses,” he said. “Russia is a destination for studying only through government educational scholarships. It is impossible to work while studying, as some consultancies claim.”
Meanwhile, Bulgaria deported 18 Nepalis who were trafficked via India, Romania, and Hungary. They lacked proper entry documents and were detained for three months in a deportation centre in Sofia. The Nepalis were sent back to Nepal on government-sponsored tickets, arriving in Kathmandu last Thursday.
The Nepali embassy in Germany, which oversees consular services for Bulgaria, said the deported individuals had been arrested for lacking official documents.