Three young Nepali women shared a single dream: reach Europe, earn money, build a better future, and eventually secure European residency and a red passport. Their story — reconstructed from accounts gathered for this report — illustrates a route that thousands of other Nepalis reportedly attempt each year: the so-called “Dunki route,” a path that starts with a legal visa and ends in an asylum claim built on a false identity.
A Shared Dream, an Illegal Path
One of the three women, from Pokhara, was in a relationship with a man who had already reached France illegally in 2024, after entering Europe on a seasonal visa and crossing through Croatia. Once in Paris, he allegedly built a small network: housing new arrivals, helping them file asylum applications, and arranging informal jobs. According to the account, he encouraged his partner to join him and bring others — promising that all the arrangements would be handled. Through a broker in Kathmandu, the woman and two companions obtained Austrian seasonal work visas and set out together.
An Austrian Farm — and an Exit Plan
- The journey ran from Kathmandu to Mumbai, then to Vienna.
- The visa was a genuine six-month seasonal agricultural permit, allowing legal work in Austria.
- On arrival, a company reportedly held the women’s passports, citing “safekeeping.”
- After 25 days of farm work, the women asked for their passports back to send wages home.
- Once the passports were returned, the three left Vienna by road, traveling through Germany toward Paris — a route allegedly pre-arranged before they ever left Austria.
Learning Tibetan, Building a False Identity
While still in Austria, two of the women reportedly began learning the Tibetan language, preparing to claim Tibetan refugee status once in France — even though, according to the account, both are ethnically Mongolian Nepali citizens, not Tibetan. The plan relied on presenting a fabricated identity convincingly enough to pass an asylum interview.
The third woman, whose appearance did not fit a Tibetan claim, allegedly followed a different template. The network reportedly included another migrant who had earlier reached Paris illegally via Romania and had been granted a four-year refugee card in 2024 after citing gender-based discrimination. The Pokhara woman is said to have used a similar narrative — presenting herself as divorced, a survivor of domestic violence, and threatened by her family — to support her own application.
Paris: A “Transit Hub” and the Business of Asylum
On reaching Paris, the women were reportedly placed in the home of a woman connected to the network, which allegedly functioned as a kind of transit hub — already housing other migrants who had entered Europe illegally and later won asylum. Soon after arrival:
- The women allegedly destroyed their passports, social media accounts, and other identifying documents.
- This was reportedly a deliberate step — commonly used by migrants on this route (referred to by smugglers as “the Game”) to obscure identity, complicate deportation, and strengthen an asylum claim.
- The network is said to have supplied forged documents from Nepal and coached the women on how to answer questions from France’s asylum authority, OFPRA, and what narrative to present in interviews.
According to the account, the network charged substantial fees for moving seasonal-visa holders into France and helping them file asylum claims — an advance payment from Nepal, a further payment on arrival in Paris, and commissions for arranging informal work.
Working Illegally While Awaiting a Verdict
French asylum applicants are not legally permitted to work for roughly six months while their claim is under review. According to the account, the network turned this restriction into another revenue stream — placing undocumented migrants in informal jobs, particularly in beauty parlors, restaurants, and cleaning services, in exchange for a commission. This allegedly created a double income stream for the network: fees from new arrivals, and commissions from job placements.
All three women are reportedly still awaiting a decision on their refugee cards and are currently working without legal authorization. The organizers are said to remain active, continuing to bring in new arrivals from Nepal.
Not an Isolated Case
This is far from a single story. Thousands of young Nepalis reportedly attempt the Dunki route to Europe every year, moving through:
- Croatia
- Romania
- Greece
- Slovakia
- Austria
- Turkey
- Serbia
— before ultimately reaching France, Spain, or Italy. The typical pattern: enter on a legitimate seasonal visa to Austria, Croatia, or Romania; cross borders illegally; and then seek to exploit the asylum system.
Why This Matters
Abuse of the asylum system has become, according to observers, a new and dangerous form of trafficking. As legal residency in wealthier European countries — especially France — becomes harder to obtain, some Nepali migrants have reportedly begun treating asylum fraud as a shortcut. This trend carries real costs:
- It is a criminal offense under host-country law.
- It reportedly diverts protection resources away from genuine refugees.
- It risks damaging Nepal’s international reputation and the credibility of Nepali passport holders.
Networks like the one described here allegedly maintain informal influence within some diaspora organizations, which reportedly limits accountability. Where evidence exists, affected individuals and community members are encouraged to report such networks to the relevant authorities. For anyone considering the Dunki route after reading this account, the caution is straightforward: the financial benefit flows to the organizers, not to the migrant — and the long-term cost is borne by genuine refugees and by Nepal’s standing abroad.
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