ABSTRACT
The Nepali diaspora in South-East Asia was an outcome of the imperatives of British colonialism and was facilitated by the geopolitical and economic compulsions of the monarchical state of Nepal. This chapter explores the issue of Gurkha displacement and rehabilitation in 1942. It provides some historical narratives to fill in and contribute to the larger narrative of the Nepali diaspora. The Gurkhas of Burma were part of a larger process of Nepali migration during the colonial period. Hundreds of refugees, consisting mainly of women and children and dependents of Gurkha soldiers belonging to the Burma Frontier Force (BFF), Burma Military Police (BMP) and Burma Army (BA) besides Gurkha civilians, arrived at various Gurkha recruiting depots on the Indo-Nepal border in a destitute condition. Motihari camp, a permanent relief camp for the Gurkha refugees was set up to relieve the recruiting centres of the pressure of handling them.
