Kathmandu, Aug. 2 -- Nearly 69,000 Nepalis are employed as domestic workers in Kuwait despite a government ban on sending workers for such jobs, proof that Nepal's migration policy is increasingly out of step with the economic realities driving women to seek work abroad.

The figures, provided by Kuwait's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Embassy of Nepal in Kuwait, expose the widening gap between government policy and the reality of overseas employment. They also show how restrictions introduced to protect vulnerable workers have failed to prevent migration and have instead pushed many aspiring workers towards informal recruitment channels.

The ban originated from a directive issued on April 2, 2017 by parliament's International Relati...