Nepal’s request to Russia to repatriate the 200-odd Nepali men who are serving in its army has failed to get any response from Moscow. A helpless Kathmandu has now turned to New Delhi for help. 

Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had, after months of silence, admitted last month that as per information pieced together by his government, more than 200 young men from the country are serving in the Russian Army and deployed in the frontline in its war with Ukraine. 

Dahal also said that ten Nepalis have died in the war and at least two are being held captive by Ukrainian forces. 

An estimated two dozen Nepali youth are also engaged as mercenaries with the Ukrainian Army. 

This has caused widespread public outrage in Nepal and has led to strong demands for repatriation of the Nepalis serving with Russian forces. 

Families of 115 Nepalis serving in the Russian Army petitioned the government earlier this week to get back their men from the frontlines. 

This has also become a hot button political issue in the Himalayan country with Opposition parties criticising the government for failing to stop Nepalis from joining the Russian and Ukrainian armies and getting them repatriated. 

Nepal’s foreign minister Narayan Prakash Saud summoned the Russian ambassador to his country, Alexei Novikov, twice in recent weeks to discuss the issue. 

Saud reportedly told Novikov that despite the two countries having long and friendly ties, Russia did not consult Nepal before recruiting Nepalis into its army. 

Though Novikov is learnt to have promised to convey Kathmandu’s concerns to Moscow, there has been no communication from Russia. It is widely felt in Nepal’s foreign ministry that Russia has simply ignored Kathmandu’s request. 

“We can do little to get Russia to repatriate our young men who have joined their army. We have little leverage with Russia. That is why we have informally requested India for help. India has very close ties with Russia and we hope New Delhi will help us,” a joint secretary in Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Swarajya.

This request was informally conveyed to New Delhi late last week. Saud, it is learnt, also mentioned this during his talks with India’s external affairs minister S Jaishankar who was on a two-day visit to Nepal last week. 

Why Nepali young men are joining the Russian army

While young men from Nepal have been travelling to Russia to study and work, it was after Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree in May last year promising Russian citizenship to foreigners who serve in its army for at least a year that many Nepali youths started enrolling in that country’s army. 

What has made joining the Russian Army attractive for Nepali youth is the handsome salary promised to recruits. While fresh recruits are paid an equivalent of Nepali Rupees 60,000 per month during the three-month training period, they get an equivalent of Nepali Rupees three lakh per month upon completion of training. 

Added to this is the promise of an insurance policy of Nepali Rupee 1.8 crore and Russian citizenship for those who serve in the country’s army for at least a year. Recruits are told they can also get their families over to Russia at the end of the one-year period.   

The average annual wage for manual labourers in Nepal is a little over Nepali Rupees two lakh. A jawan in the Nepal Army earns about Nepali Rupees 3.12 lakh a year. This amount is roughly the same as what a Nepali who joins the Russian Army earns in just one month.

According to Nepal’s Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), 744 Nepalis obtained work permits and went to Russia between 2018-2019 and 2022-2023. 

But between mid-April and mid-November last year, 533 Nepali nationals migrated to Russia with work permits. A large number of them are believed to have joined the Russian Army. 

Nepal has an acute unemployment problem. More than 20 per cent of its young men and women in the 18 to 24 age bracket are unemployed. 

Lack of employment opportunities forces most of them to go out of the country in search of work. 

According to DoFE figures, two lakh Nepalis are currently working as labourers in the Gulf and South-East Asian countries. A total of 7.45 lakh Nepalis are working in various capacities in foreign countries and their remittances accounted for nearly 25% of Nepal’s GDP in 2022-2023. 

About 2000 Nepalis leave their country every day in search of employment in foreign nations. 

These figures do not include the huge number who come into India and are employed here in various sectors. Nepali nationals do not need visas or work permits to come into and work in India. 

Numbers in dispute

Though Prime Minister Dahal has said that about 200 Nepali youths have joined the Russian Army, some say the figure could be higher. 

Despite requests, Russia has not declared how many Nepali nationals it has recruited into its army. 

Russia has also not responded to Nepal’s requests to send back the remains of the ten Nepalis who have died while serving in that country’s army. Russia has reportedly buried the remains of those soldiers in marked graves in the battlefront. 

Former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who is the chair of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), has held the Dahal government responsible for failing to stop the recruitment of Nepali youth into the Russian army. 

“This government has failed to protect our own citizens who migrate out in search of employment. It is not acting firmly in  getting our citizens who are fighting for the Russian forces against Ukraine back to Nepal. The government inaction is unacceptable,” said Oli. 

Apprehending that this can become a major issue that can turn public opinion against the government, Kathmandu has turned to New Delhi for help in getting Russia to repatriate its young men and send the remains of the ten who died while fighting for Russia.