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Anurag Devkota

Human Rights Lawyer, Law and Policy Forum for Social Justice (LAPSOJ)
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Visiting Toronto Metropolitan University

Spring 2023

Anurag Devkota is a human rights lawyer at Law and Policy Forum for Social Justice (LAPSOJ). He holds a Master of Laws degree on Rule of Law for Development from Loyola University Chicago as a Gates scholar. Anurag has been continuously litigating and representing Nepalese migrant workers on the supreme court of Nepal. Through successful strategic litigations, from ensuring voting rights of migrant workers to establishing the due diligence obligation of the government on the death of workers, Anurag has been pioneering progressive changes in the overall migration governance of Nepal. He has also been writing columns (external link)  on the contemporary issues of labour migration and is teaching law as a faculty member at Purbanchal University, Chakrawarti HaBi Academy, College of Law.

Research focus while a Fellow with CERC

The poorly-framed debates concerning Nepal have, in fact, largely been limited to moral posturing and legal compliance, rather than discussions on the multidimensional causes and effects of migration and its poor governance. The unfortunate consequences of limited national debate can be seen in policy legislation that has weak frameworks, and the implementation of existing laws is also largely lackluster. Good evidence of this was seen during the COVID-19 pandemic in the form of reverse migration, the critical issues around the social reintegration of migrants, and the impacts on the overall economy of Nepal. Against that backdrop, Anurag intends to work on a publication proposal to develop a rights-based migration governance framework which would serve as a foundational tool that governments could employ in policy reformulations as well as in the implementation of existing policies. He will also present his ideas behind the need and importance of rights-based frameworks with reference to the strategic litigations to which he has been involved in Nepal. 

Publications and Reports

(2022). Understanding Irregularity in Legal Frameworks of National, Bilateral, Regional, and Global Migration Governance. The South Asia to Gulf Migration Governance Complex. (external link, opens in new window)  Bristol University Press. 

(2021). Mutual Legal Assistance and the Transfer of Sentences: Prospects for Nepalese Migrant Workers Imprisoned Abroad. Nepal Judicial Academy (NJA) Law Journal, Nepal Judicial Academy, Volume 15, Number 1 

With Chaudhari. N (2021). Emerging Issues of Labour Migration from Nepal: Governance Structure, Gaps and Way Forward. Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences. Tribhuvan University, Volume 1, Number 1. 

(2020).  (PDF file) Fair Recruitment Country Profile for Nepal (external link, opens in new window) . International Labour Organization (ILO) Nepal. 

(2020). Role of Civil Societies in Implementation of Human Rights in Nepal. National Law College Journal, Peer reviewed journal (Vol.1, No.2, 2020)

With Shrestha. A (2020). Access to Justice and Women Migrant Workers: Issues and Challenges.  (PDF file) Human Rights Journal of National Human Rights Commission, Volume 14. (external link, opens in new window) 

With Ghimire. B & Subedi. P (2017),  (PDF file) Independence of the Judiciary in Nepal: Concept, Context and Concerns. (external link, opens in new window)  South Asia Judicial Barometer. Forum Asia and Law and Society Trust. 

Recent op-eds: Kathmandu Post (external link) ,  The Record (external link) , My Republica (external link) ,  ROUTED (external link)  (Migration & (Im) Mobility Magazine, Issue 10). Republished: The University of Oxford's Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) (external link)