KATHMANDU, Feb 8: The government has opened foreign employment opportunities for Nepali citizens in 149 countries, even though it has signed bilateral labor agreements with only 13 of them.
With the signing of a labor agreement with Saudi Arabia in Riyadh on January 25, Nepal has now formalised labor arrangements with just over a dozen major destination countries for Nepali workers.
According to records at the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security (MoLESS), Nepal has labor agreements with several Gulf countries, Japan, South Korea and a few European nations, including Germany and Romania. Other countries with which Nepal has signed agreements include Malaysia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Mauritius and the United Kingdom.
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An estimated 340,000 Nepali citizens are currently working in Saudi Arabia alone. Despite decades of labor migration to the country, the absence of a formal agreement until recently had left many workers vulnerable to exploitative practices, including the Kafala system, which often restricts workers’ ability to change jobs or return home without employers’ consent.
In the absence of bilateral labor agreements, Nepali workers frequently face wage exploitation, unsafe working conditions and limited access to grievance redress mechanisms.
Foreign employment expert Ganesh Gurung said Nepal has failed to maximize the benefits of labor migration due to the government’s lack of proactive engagement in signing formal agreements with destination countries.
Bilateral labor agreements are intended to cover key issues such as working conditions, wages and benefits, social security, health services, contract implementation, grievance handling and the protection of workers’ rights, in line with domestic laws and International Labour Organization (ILO) standards.
According to MoLESS officials, such agreements are also expected to enhance employment security, ensure service benefits for Nepali workers, prevent human trafficking, curb manpower-related fraud and promote a transparent recruitment system.
