Kathmandu, March 20 -- As the ongoing war in West Asia shows no sign of ending, at least 6,000 Nepalis living and working in various countries in the Gulf have applied to return home, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday. Around 3 million Nepalis, including both officially registered and unregistered workers, live and work in the region.

Speaking at a press conference, the ministry's spokesman Lok Bahadur Poudel Chhetri stated that a total of 82,100 Nepalis have filled out forms, and among them, around 6,000 have mentioned that they are in unsafe situations and want to return home.

With increasing risks due to the war between the US-Israeli coalition and Iran since February-end, the government recently launched an platform and...