KATHMANDU: The government while presenting the Appropriation Bill for the fiscal year 2075/76, announced it in a budget speech that compulsion to go for a foreign employment will end in the next five years. The government has shown its clear intent towards it in this very financial year as ‘Prime Minister Employment Program’ is gaining momentum by creating opportunities of employment in different sectors of the economy for many all across the country.
The program is in full swing in all the five provinces of Nepal. The government claims that PM Employment Program is working full force to give employment to Nepalese workforce here in the country. The effect of this employment program on the ground is still hard to observe. The craze for foreign employment has not subsided amongst the Nepalese youth. Not less than 7,000 foreign job aspirants visit Kathmandu daily from every part of Nepal. These job seekers converge to Kathmandu for applying for a passport, seeking an interview with manpower agents to inquire about the availability of foreign jobs and the process involved to make good in a foreign land amongst others.
Khabarhub visited as high as 60 manpower companies who conduct interviews of candidates aspiring to go abroad for foreign employment and found that such a high number of youth (7,000 per day) enter Kathmandu to test their luck for foreign jobs. These job seekers are seen lined up in front of offices of manpower agencies and other related government offices all across Kathmandu such as Kalanki, New Bus Park, Gaushala, Old Baneshwor, Sundhara, and Koteshwor. Business points/centers such as hotels, lodges, tea stalls and restaurants which are mainly dependent upon those who rush to Kathmandu seeking foreign jobs or flying to foreign destinations for jobs or returnees from abroad do also reveal how dense is the convergence of Nepalese youth — both men and women in Kathmandu all due to foreign employment.
“Since the flight of Nepalese youth to Malaysia has been stalled for some months, a downturn in business has been reported in areas of foreign employment,” says an owner of a manpower company in Kathmandu adding further, “Just a year ago, around 2,000 job aspirants used to visit Kathmandu only for Malaysia as a potential destination of foreign employment.”
Kumud Khanal, a businessman operating in an area of foreign employment, analyses, “Employment opportunities are coming up in the domestic economy of Nepal but still, a lot of work needs to be done in areas of job security, the stability of career and other protections in post-retirement life of a person. This is why we see a lot of Nepalese youth do not find enough prospects here and fly away to foreign destinations for the job. The trend is still continuing and many numbers of youth keep pouring in Kathmandu for making an inquiry and appearing in interviews regarding the prospects of foreign employment.”
Khanal adds: “The government has failed to manage the youth power of Nepal. As high as two hundred thousand youth make a visit to different manpower agencies across the country just in a month. Of these job aspirants, not less than 50,000 of them get to fly for different destinations in foreign lands. Therefore, the provision for jobs in Nepal in our own country fails to attract Nepalese youth as the government has not committed any security and stability in their career and profession.” Of late, Nepalese youth are showing interest in several countries of Europe and Africa as they are approaching the manpower agencies and consultancies operating for sending right candidates to countries of Europe and Africa.
Approaching a manpower agency through agents of foreign employment
Foreign Employment Department has clearly issued instructions that only those manpower agencies sanctioned by the Government of Nepal will deal with foreign job aspirants directly face to face. And, no agents will operate in the field to net the job aspirants to exploit them financially. But, the reality is otherwise as innocent Nepalese youth looking for foreign employment are still trapped by agents operating on the ground and take them to manpower agencies in return of money from both the sides.
Manpower agencies incentivize the agents working in rural and urban areas of Nepal for collecting youth desiring to go abroad in foreign employment. This is how manpower agencies located in Kathmandu operate to get their business from outside the Valley. Agents brief the job aspirants in advance about how manpower agency will conduct the interview for sending them away to foreign destinations for their jobs.
Mahesh Gautam, a foreign job aspirant from Ilam, approached a manpower agency located in Kathmandu only through an agent of Jhapa. Talking to Khabarhub, Mahesh says, “I have been brought here by an agent to appear in an interview for a security guard to be employed in UAE.”
Similarly, one Raman Yadav from Dhanusha was found waiting for an interview in a manpower agency located in Sinamangal. He wants to go to Qatar for a job and he has also been brought by a manpower agent to Kathmandu. Many such youths are visiting Kathmandu with the help of agents operating in this field to go for foreign employment.
Many job aspirants from Province Number-2
As the Khabarhub investigation reveals, there are many numbers of job aspirants looking to fly abroad are from Province-2. As many as 2,000 youths from Province-2 enter Kathmandu every day in search of opportunities for foreign employment. Most of such youth of this province stay in Kathmandu sustaining themselves while working in construction companies and fly directly to foreign destinations once their VISA arrives. Province-1 stands next to Province-2 in numbers of Nepalese youth rushing to Kathmandu every day looking for prospects in foreign employment. Around 1,500 job seekers enter Kathmandu from Province-1 to go abroad for foreign employment. Then comes Province-4 followed by Province-3 and 6. From all these provinces, more numbers of youths are found to have interest and inclination for foreign employment.
In comparison to the above provinces, Province-5 and 7 show least inclination towards foreign employment, says the recorded data in the Foreign Employment Department.
2000 returnees
Not less than 2,000 returnees of/from foreign employment enter Kathmandu once again to fly abroad for new jobs or assignments. They return to Nepal owing to some problems such as dislike for jobs they were in, excessive mental and physical exertion, inadequate job environment, unhealthy living conditions, diseases and debts and so on. These returnees gather in Kathmandu to fly to new destinations in foreign countries looking for new job opportunities.
Jeewan Dahal from Pokhara returned to Nepal after staying for four years in Malaysia. He visited Kathmandu to find out if there was a new vacancy to suit his job profile in Qatar. Since Malaysia is closed for Nepalese workforce as for now, Kuwait will also do well for him, says Dahal. In the same way, Dinesh Lamsaal from Butwal worked in Oman as the first stint of foreign employment. He is back now only to fly again to a good destination in a foreign land in the hospitality business. He is more interested in hotel-related vacancies in UAE. He is not alone looking for re-employment after returning to Nepal, there are many visiting Kathmandu to fly again in next foreign employment.
1,000 women visiting Kathmandu daily
As many as one thousand women lay their foot in Kathmandu every day from different parts of the country for assessing their prospects of going abroad in foreign employment. These Nepalese women approach different manpower agencies located in Kathmandu for making an inquiry regarding their chances of being employed in foreign countries of Europe, Africa and Gulf besides Malaysia.
Most of these women do not approach manpower agency directly rather they visit someone whom they trust in a personal capacity to forward their case ahead for foreign employment. Women aspiring for foreign jobs personally get into touch with a number of individuals in order to find out current vacancies in different portfolios of work available in foreign countries. After the government has drawn the curtain down on their job prospects in Malaysia and other Gulf countries, Nepalese women now prefer personal contacts of services of agents to move out of Nepal for foreign countries.
Many prefer Qatar and UAE
Qatar and UAE top the list for many who aspire to go abroad for foreign employment. They approach only those manpower agencies in Kathmandu where job vacancies from these two countries are floated to be filled up. Bijay Mahat from Dhanusha was in Kathmandu with a manpower agency located in Sinamangal to stake his claim for a job of a security guard in an auditorium of Qatar.
Gaurav Sapkota from Sunsari arrived Kathmandu to gauge the employment demands in UAE. There are other countries too like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman all in the Middle-East other than Qatar and UAE which find their place in the preference list of the job seekers in Nepal. These countries are in the most preferred list of the Nepalese youth desirous of making their fortune in foreign lands after Malaysia is closed for them at least for now.
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