Nov 18, Kathmandu- 4 Nepalese who were going to Australia illegally from the city of Makassar in Indonesia returned to Nepal last Wednesday after completing the additional legal process of illegal immigration after staying in Indonesian police custody for almost 6 months.

Hikmat Thapa, an activist of non-resident Nepalis based in Lagos, Nigeria, who has been coordinating the rescue of Nepalis after receiving information about the stranded Nepalis in Indonesia, informed that the detained Nepalis have returned to Kathmandu after paying their return flight fees.

4 Nepali youths were arrested at the end of May last month during immigration surveillance on the Sulawesi island of Makassar City, which is a two-and-a-half-hour flight from the capital Jakarta. Alif Mohammad (Sonam), a local Indonesian of Nepalese origin, suggested a way of illegal immigration with the plan to reach Australia's border point (Darwin) after sailing for about 1 hour from Saumlaki port in Sulawesi island.

These 4 youths from Mugu district had paid a fee of 20 lakh rupees to agents in Nepal and Indonesia in the hope of entering Australia. It was said that an agent named Michael of Nepalese origin living in Darwin, Australia, would facilitate the movement of immigrants who come by paying money in this way.

Thapa informed that even though initiatives have been taken to bring Sal Bahadur Karki, Bikram Bahadur Malla, Vinod Kumar Budha, and Ang Bahadur Shahi, who were stranded, with the help of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) or organizations related to immigration, there is no response from any agency. Among those who returned home, Ang Bahadur's wife Ekka Shahi was pleading for the rescue of her relatives who were arrested.

In this way, young people with diplomas in civil engineering and nursing, from ordinary shopkeepers who sell local samosas and tea in Mugu, are stuck with their dreams of going abroad. After this issue of illegal immigration came out, the Australian Embassy in Jakarta also wrote to the Nepali Consulate in Jakarta and the Nepali Embassy in Malaysia to provide necessary legal and paper support to the Nepali youth.