Mahendra Pandey

Saudi Arabia | Migrant Worker, Forced labor | Founder of Non-profit | 60 drawing hours

At 18, Mahendra Pandey went to Saudi Arabia to reunite with his father, who had ventured there for work. Despite paying a hefty fee to a recruitment agency and enduring a four-month wait for a visa, Pandey found himself at the mercy of exploitative conditions minutes after landing. His passport confiscated, he was assigned tasks unrelated to his job application, enduring 18-hour workdays, food deprivation, and intimidation by supervisors.

Reflecting on his own ordeal, Pandey discovered his father faced similar hardships, working virtually unpaid. Witnessing the generational cycle of exploitation was heart-wrenching. Pandey’s story resonates with countless migrant workers, especially in Saudi Arabia, a hotspot for modern slavery.

Determined to break the cycle, Pandey managed to return to Nepal a decade ago due to family and health concerns, refusing to go back to Saudi Arabia. Today, he channels his experiences into advocacy as the senior manager of forced labor and human trafficking at Humanity United. Additionally, he founded Shramik Sanjal, a network aiding Nepalese migrant workers with pre-departure training and support systems to mitigate exploitation.

Pandey’s journey from victim to advocate underscores the urgent need for systemic change in labor migration policies and practices, offering hope for a more just and equitable future for migrant workers globally.