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🇳🇵 Nepal /Culture & Society

Nepal's overseas missions struggle with staff shortages as diaspora grows

From Kathmandu Post · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Nepal's diplomatic missions abroad face severe staff shortages despite a growing diaspora.
  • Missions lack personnel and resources to provide routine consular services efficiently, let alone pursue broader diplomatic and economic goals.
  • Japan's embassy exemplifies the issue, with a growing Nepali community served by a diplomatic staff that has barely increased in decades.

Nepal's diplomatic missions overseas are struggling with critical staff shortages, hindering their ability to serve an ever-expanding Nepali diaspora. The missions are overwhelmed by the demand for routine consular services, leaving little capacity to pursue wider diplomatic and economic objectives like promoting exports, trade, investment, and tourism.

The government has repeatedly pledged to bolster its missions, but the reality on the ground tells a different story. In Japan, a stark example emerges: the Nepali embassy, established in 1965 when only about 1,000 Nepalis lived in the country, began with three diplomatic staff. Today, the Nepali community in Japan numbers around 342,000, yet the embassy operates with only four diplomatic staff, including a vacant ambassadorial post for nearly a year. "The Nepali diaspora is growing every day, but the resources and staffing of the embassy have not increased accordingly," said Harihar Kant Poudel, chargé d’affaires ad interim.

The Nepali diaspora is growing every day, but the resources and staffing of the embassy have not increased accordingly.

— Harihar Kant PoudelChargé d’affaires ad interim at the Nepali embassy in Tokyo, highlighting the disparity between the growing diaspora and stagnant embassy resources.

The surge in the Nepali population in Japan, from approximately 97,000 in 2021 to 342,000 by August 2026, has dramatically increased the demand for services like passports and document verification. What once took a single day now requires applicants to leave documents and return later, as staff are swamped. "The workload is so heavy that we are busy even on weekly holidays," Poudel noted.

This pressure extends to emergency responses. Last year, the embassy had to manage administrative and legal procedures for 73 Nepali deaths in Japan, including repatriation of remains. Staff often find it difficult to visit hospitals and police stations due to their overwhelming routine workload. The embassy's requests for additional staff and resources to better protect workers' rights and assist detainees have gone largely unheeded, impacting economic diplomacy with Japan, a key partner.

The workload is so heavy that we are busy even on weekly holidays.

— Harihar Kant PoudelDescribing the intense pressure on embassy staff due to increased demand for consular services.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Kathmandu Post in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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