ASIA/NEPAL - Migrant wives struggle in Nepal

Kathmandu (Agenzia Fides) - There are thousands women whose husbands work abroad and are struggling in Nepal and have to play the role of men.
They are submerged in debts, homeless and without aid. The situation is particularly difficult in the village of Thailchok, Sindhupalchok, one of the districts hit hardest with 2,500 dead and up to 90 percent of the houses in the district have been destroyed.
Like hundreds of thousands of Nepalis, they have been forced to eke out an existence in one of the many tent camps in the capital. The women staying in temporary camps are vulnerable to abuse, disease and neglect and have no emotional or moral support - most have to take care of their children and aging in-laws. More than 2.2 million Nepalis work overseas, the vast majority of them men. Their revenues account for more than 20% of Nepal’s GDP. Without their menfolk, the wives of migrant workers are at a distinct disadvantage. For example, at lunchtime in a makeshift camp in Kathmandu, survivors line up for free food: men first, then children and finally women. This is the way society is. It is always men who get priority, even in times like these, says the local NGO Women’s Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC), in a statement sent to Fides. "Women eat at the end, usually whatever is left after men and children eat. There’s discrimination even in times of crisis". Women face physical difficulties in having to carry the weight of relief supplies, such as sacks of rice sent by humanitarian agencies. It is a constant challenge. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 05/05/2015)