Kathmandu, March 20 The Nepal government on Friday confirmed that a Nepali national working aboard a vessel navigating the maritime corridor of the Strait of Hormuz has been detained by the Iranian authorities amid the ongoing war involving the US, Israel, and Iran.
The news of Nepali national Amrit Jha’s detention has surfaced at a time when Iran has shut the usually busy maritime choke point of the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20 per cent of the world’s oil passes. With millions of Nepali nationals residing in West Asia — most of them migrant workers in Gulf states—their safety has become a major concern for Nepal, especially as the region faces retaliatory attacks by Iran following joint strikes by the US and Israel.
“Jha, who was working aboard a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, was detained when Iranian armed forces took control of the ship along with the entire crew,” said Ramkaji Khadka, Joint Secretary (West Asia Division) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at a press meet on Friday.
He said that Jha’s detention was confirmed after his family alerted Nepali authorities. Since the war broke out on February 28, one Nepali national has been confirmed killed and 30 others have sustained minor injuries in various countries across West Asia, according to the ministry.
The Nepali government has already confirmed that a Nepali youth, Diwas Shrestha from the western district of Gorkha, was killed during a drone interception operation at Zayed International Airport in the UAE.
With the ongoing war in West Asia showing no signs of ending anytime soon, at least 6,000 Nepalis living and working in the region have applied to return home, citing safety concerns, the ministry said. More than 1.7 million Nepalis are residing across 12 countries in the region, according to official data.
Of the 82,100 Nepalis who updated their details in an online rescue tracking system launched by the government, about 6,000 have sought assistance to return home, said ministry spokesperson Lok Bahadur Poudel Chhetri.
The Department of Consular Services under the ministry launched the online registration system to collect updated information and assess assistance needs of Nepali nationals in the region amid the ongoing US–Iran conflict.
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