Conflicts in the Middle East leave families of migrant workers from countries like Nepal, Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka facing heavy debt burdens and social problems.
Modern.az reports that Lajana Manandhar said this during a discussion titled "The Middle East Crisis and its Impacts on Global Housing and Urban Development" within the 13th session of the World Urban Forum held in Baku.
Lajana Manandhar noted that thousands of people go to the Middle East hoping to improve their families' living conditions, build homes, and cover their children's education and medical expenses.
"People take out loans, get into debt to go abroad, and try to build a better life for their families with the money they earn. During the crisis, they return empty-handed and cannot pay their debts," she emphasized.
According to her, last year alone, women-led cooperatives in Nepal allocated approximately 600,000 US dollars in loans for employment abroad.
The organization's representative added that the psychological tension created by wars is also one of the serious problems:
"Families experience great fear and stress when they hear news of bombings and attacks in the Middle East. It is possible to calculate material damage, but it is very difficult to measure the psychological pain people experience."
