By Imran Khan,
Raxaul (Bihar) : Fear is still writ large on the faces of migrant workers from Bihar who have returned from earthquake-ravaged Nepal. Though they are worried over livelihood, jobs and their future, they vow never to go back to the Himalayan country for work.
“What will we do here to earn our livelihood? We have to search for job again. But there is little chance that our family will allow us to go back to Kathmandu for work,” said Anil Thakur.
The man from Bihar in his late 20s is camping with Surendra Sahni, in early 20s, and other migrant workers at a relief camp in Raxaul in East Champaran district of Bihar on India-Nepal border.
Thakur from Siwan district and Sahni from Darbhanga district are among the over 40,000 migrant workers who have returned and are heading to their homes in Bihar — all too frightened to return to Nepal.
Ironically, these workers face an uncertain future on May 1 when the world is celebrating International Labour Day.
“I will never go back to Nepal; there is no question of it. Now I will go to other states in the country for work because what I went through in Nepal was near death,” Thakur told IANS.
He was working with a travel agency for foreign tourists, a lucrative sector in Kathmandu. He said he has lost hope for good life ahead.
Sahni said he will first go home and will stay there for at least a week.
“I will then move to south Indian states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala or Andhra Pradesh in search of livelihood as several people from my village and neighbouring villages are working there,” he said.
Another migrant worker, Mohd. Ashraf, in his mid-20s, recounted the tale of his survival in the earthquake that left thousands killed in Kathmandu, and said he would never go back to Nepal for livelihood.
“It is a difficult decision, but I will never go to Nepal as god has given me another life,” said Ashraf, a resident of Siwan.
Manoj Singh, a resident of Madhubani district, was a proud owner of a departmental store near world heritage site of Pasupatinath temple in Kathmandu, but no more.
“My shop was completely destroyed in the earthquake; nothing was left…We have somehow managed to save ourselves,” said Singh.
He added he would think twice about returning to Kathmandu and re-starting his business.
“I have no future now,” he said.
More or less similar stories of hopelessness were narrated by Santosh Singh, Ali Hasan, Mohd. Tayab, Sohan Thakur, Mithlesh Singh and Sultan Ahmad at the camp.
According to government officials posted here, every year thousands from Bihar’s districts bordering Nepal make their way to Nepal, particularly to Kathmandu, in search of livelihood.
“So far only 40,000 of an estimated five lakh people have returned to Bihar following the earthquake. Many more have been stranded there and will follow soon,” officials said.
Extreme poverty, lack of jobs in their villages and vicinity, illiteracy and other factors force the migrants from Bihar, especially from districts bordering Nepal and flood-prone Kosi plains, to move to Nepal in search of livelihood and better life.
However, no official figures are available about how many labourers annually migrate from Bihar to Nepal in search of jobs.
(Imran Khan can be contacted at [email protected])