Nepal, March 2 -- Devi Sunar had come to Kathmandu to see her 23-year-old son Arjun off to Saudi Arabia, his first job abroad.

Instead of bidding him farewell at the departure gate, she now waits anxiously outside the International terminal at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), uncertain when he will be able to leave.

Devi said the family had spent months arranging the required funds for recruitment fees, medical tests, and travel expenses.

"It took us a long time to manage the money," she said. "We thought once he leaves, things will slowly improve."

Arjun was set to travel to Saudi Arabia for work for the first time. But with the Middle East tense after the US and Israel's attack on Iran and the confirmed killing of Iran's S...