From the beginning of 2021, migration corridors to the Gulf, Malaysia, Eastern Europe and other destinations from Nepal began to increase following the travel ban brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The private recruitment sector has been badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with government figures highlighting a significant drop in the number of agencies mobilised (from 854 licensed recruiters to only 183 in December-January). Exploitative recruitment practices such as charging extortionate fees to prospective migrant workers are common.

Three recruitment agencies - Greenstar, Vision & Value and Pass International - were all raided by the authorities who found evidence of recruitment cost charging to workers migrating to the UAE. Vision & Value lists on its website Hilton, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Marriott, Millennium & Copthorne and Radisson among its clients. Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited these hotel companies to respond to the allegations; responses from all five companies can be read below.

All three recruiters' operations were suspended by the Department of Foreign Employment.