Kathmandu: Around 20,000 Nepalese have returned home ahead of Dashain festival. Just 15 days ago, the number of Nepalese returning home from abroad after the lockdown was only 94,000. As of Sunday, the number had reached 114,018, who have returned from major labor destinations. It is estimated that the number of Nepalese returning home will exceed 25,000 by the time of Dashain vacation.
Most of them have retunred from Gulf countries as well as from Malaysia, Maldives, Japan, Korea after losing job due to the covid-19 pandemic.
Due to the inconvenient situation caused by the pandemic, most of the workers did not plan to come home for Dashain while others who have lost jobs are returning. On top of that, due to the decrease in the number of regular flights, tickets are not easily available as well as due to the increasing number of covid-19 positive cases many Nepalese have decided to remain in abroad.
Many Nepalis who were stranded abroad due to the expiration of their visas due to the lockdown have not been able to get cheap tickets even though they thought that they would have been able to return home.
The government had started regular international flights with conditions from September 1. Since then, a 72-hour PCR test has made mandatory to go straight home from airport.
20,000 Nepalese returned home ahead of festivals
