Nepal: Concerns grow over young people joining Russian army

On December 4, Nepal's said six of its citizens had died while fighting for Russia during its invasion of Ukraine.

A week later, the national daily newspaper The Kathmandu Post reported Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal as saying that in excess of 200 Nepali citizens have joined the Russian military since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.

PM Dahal added that the government has "information that Nepalis are also serving in the Ukrainian army."

"The current war crisis can only be handled strongly by diplomatic dialogues between Nepal and Russia and Nepal and Ukraine. It is the duty of the state to protect its citizens, but they must understand it is illegal to join foreign armies without the consent of their state and ignore the risks of war," Dipendra Bahadur Singh, an official at the National Human Rights Commission Nepal, told DW.

UK and India arrangement

Nepalis are recruited annually in the British and Indian armies, as part of the Tripartite Agreement between the United Kingdom, India and Nepal. This treaty was signed in 1947 concerning the rights of Gurkhas recruited in military services of the United Kingdom and India.

But Nepal has no such arrangement with Russia. This is, however, not stopping dozens of Nepalis from joining the Russian army.

In October 2022, Nepal voted in favor of a UN resolution condemning Russia's attempted annexation of four Ukrainian territories, at the United Nations General Assembly.

"We have official information that some Nepalis [fighting for Russia] have been taken hostage by the Ukrainian army, and there is also information that some Nepali nationals are serving in the Ukrainian army. Those who reached Russia on visit and student visas are now enlisted in the Russian army and six of them have been killed. Now we have learnt that over 200 Nepalis are serving in the Russian army, and this is a new and challenging situation for us," Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said, as reported by The Kathmandu Post.

Putin's hope to lure foreign nationals

In May of this year, Moscow paved the way for recruiting foreign nationals to fight in its army after a decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Three months later, Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement urging citizens not to join foreign armies in war-torn countries.

"The attention of the ministry has been drawn to the news in social networking sites that Nepali citizens have joined foreign armies," the statement said. "The policy of the Nepal government does not allow Nepali citizens to join foreign armies except for the fact that Nepali citizens are being recruited in the national armies of some friendly countries as per the traditional agreement reached between Nepal and those countries."

The ministry has asked Moscow to repatriate Nepali citizens immediately and not to commission them into fighting the war. The ministry is also on a diplomatic mission to rescue citizens captured in the war.

Meanwhile, Nepali authorities are investigating how young Nepalis are finding their way into the Russian army as well as the number of them currently active in Russian military service. Many have been reported missing by their families.

Unpaid and untrained

A few returnee Nepali soldiers have spoken to local media about the brutality of the war and the money involved in it. Some have revealed that they were not given proper training to go on the frontline and were not paid salaries for many months.

Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world. For over a decade, foreign remittances have consistently accounted for nearly a quarter of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP).

And human rights expert Dipendra Bahadur Singh doubts whether the Nepali government has the wherewithal to prevent further signups for the Russian army.

"The Nepali government does not have a strong mechanism to track movements of its citizens across borders. The government must have frequent dialogues with foreign embassies in Nepal. In this crisis, the government should start dialogues with the Russian Embassy in Nepal immediately and strongly condemn commissioning Nepali youths in this war."

Edited by: John Silk