China blockade leads to Nepal traders committing suicide

For the last two years, Beijing has imposed an undeclared blockade at the transit points on the Nepal-China border, citing the Covid-19 pandemic, which has caused economic hardships for Nepali traders and deaths by suicide.

Sudarshan Ghimire, owner of Swet Baraha Enterprises, who created the image of a good businessman on New Road, chose the path of suicide. He died by suicide on September 6, 2022, as reported by the local media EPARDAFAS. For the last two years, China has been allowing only a few containers to cross the transit points on the Nepal-China border.

Hare Ram Paudel, a young entrepreneur from Sindhupalchowk involved in the import and supply of Chinese goods in the Nepali market, committed suicide on October 13, 2020, due to frustration when his goods got stuck on the Nepal-China border for months. The entrepreneurs were caught in a double bind: their goods had been sitting at the border for months, and they also had a large amount of debt, according to the Nepali publication. On one hand, they had been going through a financial crisis, and on the other hand, banks and other moneylenders were demanding that the instalments or the dues be cleared on a regular basis. The entrepreneur committed suicide under stress as his financial condition worsened since the containers with his goods got stuck at the Chinese border for a long time. Since the outbreak of Covid-19 in China, Nepal’s trade through the China border has been hit.