KATHMANDU: The Nepal government has signed a deal with labor destination countries including Malaysia, Japan, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Mauritius to supply Nepali workers for a zero jobs cost.
In 2015, the government had announced ‘free visa, free ticket’ for the Nepali migrant youths to go to Malaysia. Unfortunately, the announcement has not come into operation, yet.
“The government has recently adopted a foreign policy to send Nepali migrant youths to labor destinations for zero jobs cost, said Narayan Regmi, spokesperson at the Ministry of Employment and Social Security.
He said that the government has signed a labor pact with the foreign countries for zero jobs cost to protect them from possible exploitation.
He went on to say that the Nepali people cannot enjoy as much pay and perks as the migrant workers from other countries such as the Philippines owing to the lack of implementation of the labor pact.
Around 80 percent of the Nepali migrant workers have been working in the Gulf countries alone. Nepali youths have been taking work permit for 110 countries at the institutional level and 172 countries at the individual level.
The government has attributed the poor management of the foreign employment to inadequate means and resources.
Many migrant workers do not get pay and perks as per the contract letter signed between them and the job providing companies. At times, manpower agencies alter the contract letters after they reach the labor destination country, complained a migrant worker.
According to a source at the Department of Foreign Employment, the companies do not extend visa and hold them illegally without insurance, leaving them exposed to exploitation, cheating, and human trafficking.
The concerned diplomatic mission is also not paying much attention to the rescue of those who die and get injured and stuck in the foreign land.
It is attributed in part to the lack of coordination between the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
For example, Malaysian employment has remained closed since the past one year after the Foreign Ministry showed reluctance to hold diplomatic talks with the Malaysian government.
The government had shut down various institutes saying that the Nepali youths were swindled. Some individuals were arrested but the main mastermind behind the culprit remained at large.
The Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security has accused the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of not monitoring the labor agreement signed with the labor destination countries.
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