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Expressing serious objection over increasing incidents of Nepali workers being sent to deportation centers, Nepali envoy to Malaysia, Rishiram Adhikari, has written to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) to immediately check such malpractices in the foreign employment sector. [break]MoFA has forwarded the letter to the Ministry of Labor and Transport Management (MoLTM) for necessary action.
The increasing trend of sending workers with fake job contracts is putting Nepali workers in serious risk.
“There is a huge mismatch between the job contracts and name of demanding companies attested by the mission and the job contracts carried by the workers. The demands letters approved by Malaysia´s Home Ministry and final approvals issued by Nepal´s Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) also don´t match,” the letter stated.
According to the mission, manpower agencies are sending contract letter specifying 481 Ringitt as remuneration to Malaysian employers and providing contracts to workers specifying a remuneration of 546 Ringitt.
The government has set a minimum salary of 546 Ringitt per month to Nepali workers leaving for Malaysia.
With the manipulation of contract papers and final approvals, the number of workers landing in Malaysian deportation camps is increasing as no employer company turns up at the airport to receive the workers.
The mission has also raised concern over ineffective pre-departure training and orientation to workers about Malaysian laws, geography and climate condition.
Similarly, it has also expressed objection to the trend of denying or delaying payment of compensation and insurance to the workers.
Local agents and employers are also found encouraging workers to overstay their three-year contract, assuring them of providing work permits with better salary. The Malaysian authorities have kept Nepali workers in around half a dozen deportation centers, accusing them of breaching the law of land.
The mission has also requested the government to maintain a computerized database of Nepali workers in concerned government offices. It has strongly demanded the government to control the tendency of manipulating contract papers and fleecing innocent job-seekers.
The mission has also requested the government to regularly dispatch details of final approvals issued by Department of Foreign Employment to it. It has also suggested the government to make pre-departure orientation for workers more effective.
The Nepali embassy in Malaysia has also suggested the government to increase the number of local (Malaysian) staffs at the mission and provide logistics like vehicles to increase its capacity in dealing with labor related problems.
Raising serious concern over the recent protest over the death of a Nepali worker, the mission also requested the government to implement the minimum salary agreed with the Malaysian government and take initiative in arranging other perks and benefits to the workers.
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