However, Hong Kong officials have assured Nepal that issues regarding the closure of Hong Kong market for Nepali job-seekers would be reconsidered in January. Hong Kong had stopped receiving Nepali workers for domestic jobs from 2005, citing the involvement of Nepali workers in different criminal activities, including drug trafficking and overstaying visa. [break]
A delegation of Nepali officials and representatives of United Nations Fund for Women Development (UNIFEM) had recently visited Hong Kong to lobby for reopening Hong Kong for Nepali migrant workers. The delegation also visited Sri Lanka, one of the major source countries for international labor market, to learn from Sri Lankan experience in sending workers in international labor markets.
The delegation led by Purna Chandra Bhattarai, joint secretary at the Ministry of Labor and Transport Management (MoLTM), met with officials of Department of Labor and Department of Immigration of Hong Kong.
“We requested senior officials of Hong Kong to reopen their long stalled job market for Nepali workers by legalizing the recruitment process for Nepali. They have assured us of reviewing issues on reopening Hong Kong for Nepali workers in January,” Mukunda Adhikari, under-secretary at Foreign Employment Promotion Board, told Republica on Thursday.
Hong Kong reviews its immigration policy in every six months.
Adhikari, who was in the delegation, said immigration officials of Hong Kong were mainly concerned about the involvement of Nepalis in different criminal activities in Hong Kong.
He also said the prospect of employing about 15,000 to 20,000 Nepalis in different sectors, including domestic works and service sectors, is high in Hong Kong, where Nepali workers can earn at least Rs 30,000 per month excluding other benefits.
“We are recommending the government to take high-level diplomatic initiatives to hold talks with top Hong Kong officials to revive stalled job market for Nepali workers,” Adhikari added.
In its bid to reopen the employment opportunity for Nepali workers in Hong Kong, the MoLTM has already written to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, requesting the latter to take diplomatic initiatives to reopen the lucrative job market for Nepali youths.
Hong Kong had stopped receiving Nepali workers from 2005 due to the bad track record of overstaying and rising cases of Nepali workers marrying Hong Kong citizens.
The number of Nepali workers leaving for Hong Kong dropped to 65 in fiscal year 2008/09 from 199 recorded a year earlier, according to the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE).
UNIFEM has long been lobbying for the resumption of the process to send Nepali job-seekers to Hong Kong, which is regarded attractive in terms of security, rights of workers and remuneration. It has been working in Hong Kong in collaboration with Asian Migrant Center and Domestic Women Workers Union to safeguard the rights of Nepali women.
Nepali women are mostly working in beauty parlors and department stores and as domestic helps and security guards.
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