Nepal sees declining number of migrant workers to Qatar following crisis

The number of Nepali migrant workers going to Qatar has gone down after the tiny Gulf nation faced diplomatic stand-off and economic embargo from other Gulf nations led by Saudi Arabia.

Taking permit from the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), a government agency, is essential for Nepalis going to abroad to work. Qatar is one of the key destinations for Nepali migrant workers.

According to the DoFE, average number of migrant workers seeking permit to go to Qatar has declined but not significantly.

"The number of permit issuance has gone down to average 150-300 a day since Qatar crisis began last week from 300-400 a day before," Mohan Adhikari, information officer at the DoFE, told Xinhua, adding "not only the crisis in Qatar, ongoing Ramadan being observed in the Muslim world also might have contributed to decline workers' demands."

Nepal is deputy member of ILO governing board

Nepal has been elected deputy member on the International Labour Organization’s governing board in Geneva.

This is Nepal’s ascent to the ILO policy-making body in 50 years of the country joining the UN body, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Nepal intensified lobbying in Geneva and New York in the past several months to become the deputy member whose composition is 56 titular members—28 governments, 14 employers and 14 workers--and 66 deputy members that include 28 governments, 19 employers and 19 workers.


Nepal will represent South Asia in the body and contribute to policy making for various labour and migration related issues for three years, according to the ministry.

The ILO governing body takes executive decisions in 10 sectors including budget formulation, control, agenda setting, appointment of director-general and oversight of the ILO central office.

Nepal, India, Iran, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka are in the ILO Central-Asia sub-regional group. Two countries from this group are selected as deputy-members from the region but three nations--Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh--have announced their candidacies this time, ending the possibility of unopposed election.

Nepal has committed to ending all kinds of child labor from the country by 2025.

Concern of Nepalese Migrant Workers in Qatar

By Prasanta Kumar BK

No matter the cause of the diplomatic-earthquake that has struck Qatar, the aftershocks can be felt all the way in Nepal. Of particular concern are the approximately twenty-thousand Nepali migrant workers currently in Qatar employed in various sectors, ranging from agriculture to industry.

Nepal and Qatar have enjoyed friendly diplomatic relations for the better part of four decades with Qatar—and other Gulf States—providing employment opportunities for Nepali migrant workers. Because migrant workers tend to flood the Nepali economy with remittance, there has been a reduction in poverty that has helped drive national economic development. The cost, however, of external migration includes things such as a family-breakdown and senior citizens not receiving proper care. Despite of these consequences, workers continue to leave Nepal for many foreign countries especially Qatar.

With the potential for the current diplomatic crises in Qatar to spiral into a humanitarian one; the rate of working permits issued from the Department of Labor has decreased. Furthermore, if the situation in Qatar is to worsen, Nepali workers will, no doubt, themselves become victims to the crisis. Therefore, the Nepali government should take immediate action to protect these workers. There exist numerous mechanisms the Nepali government can engage to this end. Currently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department of Labor, Embassy of Nepal in Qatar, Labor Attaché in Qatar, and Residential Diplomatic Mission in Qatar have been protecting workers based upon The Foreign Employment Act of 2007, and accompanying Rules (2008). Additionally, both Nepal and Qatar are signatories of an agreement signed in 2005 concerning Nepali workers in Qatar.  However, staffing limitations have stymied implementation of these protective mechanisms.

According to the Labor Migration for Employment Report, 2014/15: “As the volume of labor migrants for foreign employment increased, the government faced new legal and administrative challenges, coupled with the increasing demand for the protection of migrant workers.” So, the question of the functionality of these safeguards and policies remain. In the context of this current diplomatic row, what strategies should the government of Nepal adopt to ensure the safety of Nepali workers in Qatar?

Article 14 of the agreement concerning Nepali workers states: “A Joint Committee shall meet once every two years, or as may be necessary, at a time and place agreed upon.”  If necessary, this article can be applied to ensure safety, rights, and welfare of migrant workers currently in Qatar. The government of Nepal must play pro-active diplomatic role regarding this issue to avoid the possibility of catastrophe. The upcoming second round of local-level elections in Nepal should not be an excuse or the cause of indifference towards the migrant workers in Qatar.

The writer is a student of Masters in International Relations & Diplomacy at Tribhuvan University

Amnesty International Report on Nepali migrant workers

Nepal: Unscrupulous recruiters given free rein to exploit migrants

By James Lynch, Deputy Director of Amnesty International's Global Issues Programme, 6 June 2017

The Nepali government is failing to address rampant deception and extortion in the country’s labour recruitment business, putting migrant workers at risk of forced labour abroad and leaving them with crippling debts, according to a report published today by Amnesty International.

“All over Nepal, unscrupulous recruiters are getting away with destroying lives – illegally charging aspiring job-seekers exorbitant fees to get jobs abroad, and then abandoning them overseas when things go wrong,” said James Lynch, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Global Issues programme.

“It is only when they leave Nepal that migrant workers find out that they have been deceived about everything from salary to working conditions. By then it is far too late and many end up with recruitment debts that may take the rest of their working lives to pay off.

“Migrant workers contribute nearly a third of Nepal’s GDP in money they send back home, yet the government spends a tiny fraction of its budget on their needs. It is high time that this equation changes and migrant workers receive the protection they are entitled to.”

Amnesty International researchers interviewed 127 Nepali migrant workers and dozens of government officials in 2016 and 2017, in eight districts of Nepal, for the report Turning People into Profits: Abusive Recruitment, Trafficking and Forced Labour of Nepali Migrant Workers. Almost all workers the organization spoke to had been subject to some form of abuse at the hands of private recruiters. 

Lifelong debts

Suresh, from Saptari district, told Amnesty International how he had borrowed NPR 250,000 (USD 2,416) from a local moneylender, at an interest rate of 36%, in order to pay a recruitment agent. He was assured by his agent and recruitment agency that he would quickly be able to pay off the debt from his earnings abroad.

But at the glove-making factory in Malaysia where Suresh was placed he was sometimes unpaid for as long as three months at a time. When he did receive his monthly wages, they were USD 354 less than what the recruitment agency had promised.

He could not leave the job or Malaysia because his employer had confiscated his passport when he arrived, and refused to terminate his contract. Suresh repeatedly called his recruitment agency for help, but they never responded.

When he finally managed to leave Malaysia two years later, Suresh had accumulated a staggering debt of NPR 550,000 (USD 5,317). Back in his village in Nepal he makes about USD 50 to 100 per month – meaning it could take him  as long as five decades to pay off his migration debts.

“The attitude of recruiters is about buying and selling people. And our people end up being abused, because the government does not prevent them from being traded like cattle,” said Suresh.

Migrant workers who had gone abroad before 2015 reported paying, on average, USD 1,346 (NPR 137,000) to recruitment agents and agencies for their jobs abroad. This is USD 549 more than the limit under Nepali law at the time.

No choice

In the absence of decent work opportunities at home, an increasing number of Nepalis feel they have no choice but to look abroad for work, with more than 400,000 migrating for jobs overseas every year.

In the absence of decent work opportunities at home, an increasing number of Nepalis feel they have no choice but to look abroad for work, with more than 400,000 migrating for jobs overseas every year.

Job-seekers are exposed to a number of abuses by local agents and recruitment agencies. They are often deceived about the nature and terms of their foreign employment and cornered into paying illegally high recruitment fees.

Recruiters often confiscate their passports and refuse to provide other essential documentation such as contracts and receipts. One agency told Amnesty International he charged high fees because if he did not, migrant workers might be able to leave the jobs they were placed in:

“If workers run away, a company loses its investment… If they do not have to pay money for their jobs, then they will think they are going abroad on a vacation. They will think they can just come back to Nepal whenever they like.”

Once they move abroad – the vast majority to Malaysia or Gulf countries - migrant workers are at serious risk of exploitative working conditions which can amount to forced labour. Workers’ visas are generally tied to their employers, meaning that if they leave they risk becoming undocumented and losing their right to work or remain in the country.

Undocumented workers are easily re-exploited. While struggling to earn or borrow money in order to return home to Nepal, workers face threats of arrest, detention, and prosecution for immigration offences.

Several Nepalis who became undocumented migrant workers told Amnesty International researchers how they were forced to seek out exploitative black-market “repatriation agents”, who charged high fees in order to get them home.

Under Nepali law, recruitment agencies are required to pay for the repatriation of workers whose terms of employment are found to be different to those stipulated in the original contract. However, Amnesty International did not identify a single case in which a recruitment agency had fulfilled this obligation.

Good intentions, bad implementation

The Nepali government has taken some potentially positive steps towards tackling the pattern of abuse suffered by workers, most notably the “Free Visa, Free Ticket” policy, which took effect in July 2015.

This is supposed to drastically limit the amount that recruitment agents and agencies can charge workers, by requiring foreign employers to pay for airline tickets and visa processing costs, and lowering what recruitment agencies can charge workers in service fees to NPR 10,000 (USD 96).

However, none of the 127 workers Amnesty International spoke to were able to find a recruitment agency that would not charge them for visa and ticket costs, or respect the  limit on service fees stipulated in the “Free Visa, Free Ticket” policy. 

Meanwhile the recruitment industry has vigorously opposed the policy, going on strike twice in protest to pressure the government into reversing its stance.

“Despite some bright ideas, a lack of political will combined with bureaucratic inertia means that businesses are still effectively free to exploit migrants. It is abundantly clear that the Free Visa, Free Ticket policy is not being implemented or enforced properly,” said James Lynch.

“The Nepali government needs to invest fully in protecting migrant workers, starting with the proper implementation of key laws and policies which stop recruitment agencies from making quick money off the back of poor people’s futures.”

Nepali migrant worker commits suicide in Korea

KATHMANDU, June 5: A Nepali migrant worker committed suicide after posting a dismal Facebook status. Sunil Adhikari of Gorkha district, who was working at Degu Khang Sang-based Fozang Company, killed self after leaving a suicidal note. Adhikari, 22, had gone to Korea through EPS two years ago. He wrote the word ‘life’ and painted it black on Facebook few hours before committing suicide. “The sun rises tomorrow morning, Bro,” one of his Facebook friends commended. The next day Adhikari was found dead in his room. The reason behind committing suicide is yet to be investigated. Nepali Embassy in Seoul said it is trying to get the details behind the incident. FoZang police have kept Adhikari’s body at the hospital. The number of suicidal cases due to psychological problems are growing day by day in Korea of late. Earlier, Mohan Singh Budhapal of Kanchanpur had also committed suicide by hanging on the company premises.