426 Exploring the inequities returnee migrants with disabilities experience in Nepal

Abstract OP 6: Health Policy 2, B308 (FCSH), September 3, 2025, 15:45 - 16:45 Aims Nepal ranks among the top labour sending countries in South Asia. Nepali migrant workers predominantly engage in semi-skilled and low-skilled jobs abroad, often referred to as 3D jobs (dirty, difficult, and dangerous). These working conditions place them at high risk for injuries, disabilities, and poor mental health outcomes. Government reports indicate that the number of returnee migrants with disabilities is on the rise. Current literature on migration health in Nepal primarily focuses on common health issues among migrants, including mental health and workplace safety in destination countries, but these studies examine issues in isolation. Both migration health scholarship and social policy landscape in Nepal have inadequately addressed the lived experiences of returnee migrants with disabilities, their migratory journeys, and the multiple burdens they face. The aim of this presentation is to examine the multiple burdens returnee migrants with disabilities face at various points of migration and reintegration into their communities. Methods This research employs mixed methodologies including, ethnographic techniques, 12-15 life history interviews/resource mapping exercises and approximately 300 cross-sectional surveys with returnee migrants with disabilities and 12-15 key informant interviews with policy makers in Koshi and Bagmati provinces will be conducted. Results This presentation will highlight, challenges faced by returnee migrants with disabilities in accessing healthcare services and counselling facilities, coping mechanisms adopted to manage everyday life while struggling with managing multiple challenges of physical and psychosocial disabilities. Moreover, this study emphasizes, the role of structural and social determinants (physical infrastructure, government policies, bilateral agreements, interventions) in shaping the everyday lives. The relevance of context-specific evidence for promoting evidence-informed policy making. The need for contextually tailored interventions to make migration health and reintegration policies disability-inclusive in Nepal. Conclusions The study contributes significantly to an under explored area of scholarship (intersections of disability, migration, health studies) and evidence-informed policy design.