Unsafe Migration: How Exploitative Situations Occur in Nepal (A Survivor’s Story)

For 12 years, Purnaa’s mission has been to create sustainable livelihoods in Nepal and expand choices for people considering work overseas. Our team includes individuals who have migrated safely and returned home, as well as people who have survived trafficking and forced labor situations.

The account below is shared with the informed consent of an employee whose name and identifying details have been changed to protect her safety. It reflects her lived experience of forced labor and labor trafficking.

Nepal has one of the highest per capita rates of labor migration in the world. For many, working abroad promises higher wages, quicker savings, and the chance to return home with financial stability. In a country where decent work opportunities and social mobility is limited, particularly for women who have not completed formal education, migration may feel like the best option.

Purnaa was founded to create more options. Through living-wage employment, skills training, and benefits such as school scholarships for employees’ children, we aim to support people from marginalized backgrounds to build stable lives in Nepal. Yet even when wages exceed local market rates, rising living costs and family responsibilities place significant pressure on households. For some, overseas migration still appears to offer the fastest route to financial security.

This is Priti’s story. 

Priti had worked at Purnaa for a year before deciding to leave Nepal to work abroad. As part of Purnaa’s standard procedure, she completed an exit interview when she handed in her notice. Exit interviews are conducted to check employees’ well-being and to identify potential risks, including signs that someone may be planning to migrate through unsafe or informal channels.

In this case, Priti explained that she was going to go to work abroad due to financial pressures and family pressures. The HR team were not able to dissuade her; and so they encouraged her to stay connected with Purnaa, keeping the possibility of returning in the future. They also encouraged her to reach out any time if she needed support.

Priti returned to Purnaa 14 months later.

A single mother with ongoing health issues, Priti is the primary earner in her household. She supports her child, her disabled father, and her chronically ill sister.

As the main earner, she is under pressure to provide more financial security for her family and was encouraged to seek work abroad.

Priti was introduced to a job in Dubai by a close family friend. The friend assured her that the work would be safe, well-paid, and manageable. She could enter Dubai and start working on a tourist visa. Although Priti knew the recruitment process was informal and not legal, she trusted her friend deeply. Priti was not aware that the Nepali government had restrictions in place for Nepalese women working in domestic positions in the Gulf states.

“We first travelled to Dubai on a tourist visa,” Priti recalled. “We arrived late at night and were taken to a dark room where other people were already staying. That was the first moment I felt something was wrong, but I didn’t fully understand the danger at the time.”

Shortly afterwards, Priti was moved to Kuwait, a country she had never been told she would work in.

On her first day of work, her identification documents were taken away. The job she had been promised did not exist. Instead of cleaning work, she was sent to a private household to care for children. Her working day stretched up to 17 hours without adequate rest. Food was insufficient. When she fell ill and repeatedly asked for medical care, her requests were ignored. She was trapped in forced labor and a victim of labor trafficking.

“The family verbally abused me,” she said. “They tried to hit me. I lived in constant fear.”

When she asked the broker to let her return home or move to a different employer, he became angry. He told her she owed him for the cost of bringing her there and threatened her life. Priti later learned that brokers can receive around USD $400 per person they deliver to domestic work placements in Kuwait.

Priti was under constant surveillance. Although she had to hide her phone use, she continually tried to contact the friend who had introduced her to the broker, but received no response. Later, she understood that the friend had previously been in a similar situation to Priti and had been instructed to recruit four additional people to the broker before being allowed to leave. An example of a victim who turned into an offender.

As the situation became clearer, without her documents and unable to leave, Priti contacted the Purnaa team for support.

Purnaa’s Staff Development team began seeking advice from local partners and specialists familiar with trafficking and cross-border labor cases to understand her options. When an international anti-trafficking organization, reviewed her case, the response reflected the legal complexity of her position. Because she had travelled on a tourist visa and emigrated illegally her access to formal protections was limited. Once in Kuwait, a work permit had been arranged for her, placing her under a legal employment contract, although her route into the country had been illegal.

Because Priti had migrated illegally, her options were severely limited. Additionally, Priti was not in a position to seek help from authorities such as the local embassy as she was under threat of physical violence and was unable to leave the house she was working in. Even then, authorities are overwhelmed with such cases, and the response may not have been swift. Purnaa was advised that her safest route home might be to complete a portion of her contract to repay the recruitment-related costs claimed to secure the return of her passport and permission to leave.

It took twelve months for her to complete her contract, recover her documents, and return to Nepal.

Understanding how exploitative situations emerge

Priti’s experience exposes several realities that are often overlooked in discussions of trafficking and exploitation.

First, the recruitment did not begin with deception by a stranger or job agency, but with trust placed in a close female family friend. Second, Priti was aware that the migration process wasn’t legal, placing her outside many legal protection mechanisms from the outset. Third, she was moved across borders into a country she had never agreed to work in, where she then received a legal work permit. And finally, her journey meant that even when exploitation was clear, formal systems would not have been able to support her.

“This experience taught me that trafficking does not always start with strangers,” Priti said. “Sometimes it begins with people we trust, and that makes it even more dangerous.”

Stories like Priti’s highlight how economic pressure, gender inequality, and social obligation can narrow choices until risk feels unavoidable. And they raise questions about who is protected by existing systems, and who is left to navigate exploitation alone.

Trafficking prevention at Purnaa

The impact of this case has been profound. In response, Purnaa has intensified its education programs on safe migration, strengthened the exit‑interview process, and formalized policies that reassure every team member that they are always welcome to return. For the staff who did everything to try and support Priti, the experience was deeply impactful.

We speak openly about the risks of unsafe overseas migration. During regular Values Time sessions, led by our HR and Staff Development teams, employees receive practical information about safe and unsafe recruitment routes.

Our HR team is trained to recognize early signs that someone may be considering leaving through informal channels, and we approach these conversations with care.

Every employee who leaves is invited to an exit interview. This allows us to check in, share information, and ensure they know they are always welcome to return or reach out for support.

We are thankful to have support from Mukti, a trusted partner and trafficking expert for their valuable contribution and guidance during this case and others.

Creating a trauma-informed workplace 

As a member of the Freedom Business Alliance, Purnaa is committed to becoming a trauma-informed organization and creating a healing-centered workplace. Many of our employees come from marginalized backgrounds and have experienced conflict, displacement, injustice, natural disasters, domestic violence, or other forms of harm.

Being trauma-informed means recognizing that these experiences can shape how someone feels, communicates, and works. It means understanding that people may need different types of support at different times. At Purnaa, this includes access to counselling and optional group therapy sessions, as well as creating a workplace culture built on psychological safety, respect, and trust.

Even with these programs, systems, and layers of support in place, we acknowledge that the economic and social pressures to seek work abroad remain constant. While we cannot always prevent someone from being exploited or taking the decision to migrate unsafely, it’s important that Purnaa provides a loving, safe place where they can find fulfilling employment.

Priti has bravely chosen to share her story so others may reconsider taking the same path. We are incredibly grateful that she was open to telling her story.

If you’d like to find out more about the work Purnaa does, go to: www.purnaa.com