LOGIN DASHBOARD

    Features

    5 MIN READ

    Uncertain times in Australia

    Ishita Shahi, April 16, 2020, Kathmandu

    Uncertain times in Australia

      Share this article

    Uncertainty and insecurity prevail for Nepalis in Australia

    (The Record)

    Pasang Lhamu Sherpa has been living with her husband and three roommates in Melbourne, Australia, for almost a year now. A nurse by training, Sherpa currently works in aged care.

    “I still have a job and I am thankful for that. But it cannot sustain all five of us for long. Each day of the lockdown is significant and the coming days are definitely going to be tougher,” Sherpa said. “I do not feel ready at all, financially or mentally.”

    Pasang Lhamu with her friends

    Despite obvious safety concerns, Sherpa considers herself far more fortunate compared to many Nepali students and workers living in Australia. Thousands have lost their jobs due to mass closure of businesses and industries ever since lockdown measures were put in place to contain the Covid19 outbreak. In Sherpa’s own circle, people including her husband and fellow roommates have lost their jobs since the hospitality industry came to a halt with the stage three lockdown. Currently, they are relying on their steadily decreasing savings.

    “I feel lucky having my cousins here, but I also know that it’s difficult for them to support me in the long run. I don’t want to be a burden on them,” said Tsering Sherpa, a business management student who arrived in Australia for higher studies just a week before lockdown.

    There is palpable fear among Nepali students across Australia after the Australian PM Scott Morrison informed immigrants and international students to return home if they aren’t in the position to support themselves for at least a year. But many who want to return are also in a fix since the Nepali ban on international flights that took effect in late March. Since then, several high level officials, including the defence and labour ministers, have dismissed the possibility of bringing citizens back despite the Supreme Court’s order to ensure them safe passage back home.

    Kiran Subedi (name changed), a student who has been jobless for a month now, said, “Forget about people who do not want to return and focus instead on those who want to. If the (Nepal) government really cared, the chartered flight which repatriated Australian citizens from Nepal could have returned with Nepalis stranded here.”

    Subedi’s ire at his government’s inability to ensure the safe return of thousands of citizens stuck across the globe due to the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns is evident. Governments across the world have been evacuating their citizens including many foreign tourists from Nepal. In February, Nepal had evacuated around 175 people stuck in Wuhan following a huge social media outcry but has shut its borders tightly against the entry of anyone, including Nepali citizens. 

    Read also:Peril overload for Nepali migrant workers

    In the last decade, the population of Nepalis currently working or studying in Australia has increased nine-fold. According to the Australian government’s data, in 2017, there were above 73,000 Nepalis living there. As of October 2019, some 66,000 Nepali students were enrolled in multiple educational programs in the country.

    In Australia, those employed for at least a year are eligible for the assistance scheme which makes their superannuation available to them. The newly employed, however, cannot apply for early release of these funds and so those with less than a year’s employment are much more vulnerable.

    To relieve the financial stress faced by Nepalis in Australia, the Non-Resident Nepali Association has started distributing a student assistance package consisting of grocery items to last two weeks. While about 1,000 students have requested the relief package, due to insufficient funds, only 250 have received it as of 11 April.

     Student assistance package consisting of grocery items

    Many students have personal savings but without any source of income in the coming days, and with continued regular expense, the situation is going to get tougher. With the lockdown in Australia likely to last longer than in the US or UK, Nepalis in Australia fear for their survival.

    In the midst of this, some students have felt that the Nepali media has been exaggerating their condition. According to Roshan Khatiwada, who has been living in Australia since 2014, “Yes Nepalis are suffering, but to exaggerate their condition creates nothing but panic among families back home.”

    Nevertheless, Nanda Gurung, spokesperson of NRN Australia, stressed that while many Nepalis residing in Australia are comparatively privileged, there is also a population facing extreme challenges.

    “Most are likely to face some challenge in the coming days, but ten percent of the Nepali migrant population here has already been living under harsh circumstances. The (Nepal) government needs to take a stance before it’s too late,” said Gurung.

    Read also: Take us home: detained workers’ plea to Nepal from Qatar

    Suraj Shrestha, a student of international business at the University of Ollango, has tried to reach out to the Ministry of Home Affairs in Kathmandu with an appeal to help the Nepali community in Australia. His appeal was denied by the ministry and he was told that the Nepali ambassador to Australia is responsible for answering his queries.

    “The virus has affected the entire globe, and all countries are taking some approach towards dealing with it. In Nepal, however, the reaction has been to not let its citizens in,” Shrestha said. “What kind of government does not allow their own citizens to enter their home? This is yet another instance of the leadership’s incapabilities.”

    ::::::



    author bio photo

    Ishita Shahi  Ishita Shahi is a reporter at The Record.

      



    Comments

    Get the best of

    the Record

    Previous Next

    YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

    Features

    6 min read

    Digital art for a digital world

    The Record - March 16, 2021

    Meet six young Nepali artists with stories to tell, styles of their own, and a passion for art that’s digital.

    Perspectives

    6 min read

    Province 2 and Sudurpaschim show how federalism can bring about political stability

    Sovit Subedi - February 16, 2021

    Federalism appears to be working in exactly the two places—with distinct regional identities—where it was most likely to work.

    COVID19

    7 min read

    Preventing and treating Covid-19 during the second lockdown

    Record Nepal - April 28, 2021

    Public health experts caution against hoarding inhalers and oxygen canisters and ask the public to refrain from self-medicating. Always consult a doctor before taking any drugs.

    Perspectives

    8 min read

    From Darchula to Dharchula, every day for work

    Jag Bahadur Budha - March 31, 2022

    Hundreds of Nepalis cross the Mahakali border every day looking for work in India's Dharchula. There are no jobs in Nepal, they say.

    COVID19

    Explainers

    8 min read

    Here’s all you need to know about the Covid-19 treatments everyone is talking about

    Marissa Taylor - May 6, 2021

    With misinformation rampant on social media, it is imperative that people know what Covid-19 treatments work and what do not.

    Features

    8 min read

    Whether in Nepal or in the US, caste persists

    Pranaya Sjb Rana , Marissa Taylor - February 17, 2022

    Prem Pariyar’s advocacy has shed more light on caste-based discrimination in the US but back home, discrimination continues in Nepali universities and colleges.

    Perspectives

    9 min read

    The ‘bad girl’ and the (re)birth of the ‘anti-hero’

    Sabin Ninglekhu - February 28, 2021

    Can the face of the Citizen’s Movement be that of the subaltern collective, one that disrupts the elite history of the nation-state?

    Opinions

    7 min read

    A looming crisis in farming

    Jagannath Adhikari - September 23, 2020

    Dependence on imported chemical fertilisers has made Nepal’s farmers vulnerable on more than one front

    • About
    • Contributors
    • Jobs
    • Contact

    CONNECT WITH US

    © Copyright the Record | All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy