KATHMANDU, JANUARY 1

As many as 444 women and girls especially from western Nepal who went to foreign countries in search of jobs have gone missing since.

The data is based on the applications submitted at the Maiti Nepal, Nepalgunj chapter in 2022 with the requests for their whereabout.

Nepalgunj-based Maiti Nepal extended office coordinator Keshab Koirala said last year, we received 693 applications for finding out the whereabouts of missing people and of them, 249 were found.

Families and relatives of women and girls who lost contact with the families after reaching India and other third countries sought the organisation's help to find their whereabouts.

Similarly, 529 women and girls who were perceived to be at a risky travel were turned back from the Jamunaha transit point along the Nepal-India border in Banke.

During the interrogations, they were found to have left their home without family consultations, for employment or for a trip. Most of them were from Surkhet.

The use of social sites and lack of digital security have further fueled the issues of human trafficking and smuggling, Koirala shared.