More than 60 percent of Nepali domestic workers who end up illegally in the Gulf travelled through the main airport in the capital Kathmandu, the report said - AFP

KATHMANDU: Nepal's restrictions on woman migrating for work are discriminatory and inconsistent with international law, a United Nations rights official said yesterday during a visit to the country.

Nepal last year introduced a ban on women working as domestic helpers in the Gulf, one of various laws passed over the last decade to protect female migrant workers from sexual exploitation. "These bans are ineffective and create the consequence that women migrate through irregular channels and become victims of trafficking," said the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Felipe Gonzalez Morales. "They (the government) don't realize it's discrimination, but these policies are inconsistent with international law and should be lifted." Nearly half a million Nepalis migrated for work in 2015/16, according to the latest available government data, and migrant remittances account for over a third of the country's GDP. _ AFP