KATHMANDU, April 29: More Nepali workers have been heading to Israel in recent weeks. The Department of Foreign Employment reported that Israel issued visas to 190 individuals in Chaitra (mid-March to mid-April), and they began departing for Israel in Baisakh (mid-April to mid-May).
After lifting its ban on sending workers to war-affected Israel, the government invited job applications on June 25 last year. Out of the approved applicants, 2,112 candidates took the selection test, and authorities selected them through a lottery. Of those selected, 439 Nepali workers have already reached Israel, and officials are preparing to send another 250, according to Giriraj Gyawali, director of the Israel unit under the Department of Foreign Employment.
Nepali workers have started going to Israel under the government-to-government (G2G) system to work as assistant caregivers in long-term care centers. The flow of workers to Israel has continued steadily since (mid-December to mid-January). “Within just two months, more than 55 percent of the selected candidates have already received their employment contracts,” said Giriraj Gyawali.
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The Israel unit reported that 923 out of 1,000 selected candidates passed the medical examination. Four of them missed the pre-departure orientation training, so the unit is currently preparing employment contracts for the remaining 919 candidates in the first phase.
The unit aims to finalize contracts for all 919 candidates within Baisakh (mid-April to mid-May) and complete the rest by Jestha (mid-May to mid-June). Among these 919 candidates, 304 are men and 701 are women.
The Department of Foreign Employment reported that 28 Nepali workers traveled to Israel with re-approval in Shrawan (mid-July to mid-August), 26 in Bhadra (mid-August to mid-September), 37 in Ashoj (mid-September to mid-October), 111 in Kartik (mid-October to mid-November), 90 in Mangsir (mid-November to mid-December), 47 in Poush (mid-December to mid-January), 46 in Magh (mid-January to mid-February), and 30 in Falgun (mid-February to mid-March) of the current fiscal year.
In fiscal year 2023/24 BS, 1,005 Nepali workers went to Israel through individual, institutional, and re-approval labor permits.
In the current fiscal year, 11 individuals obtained individual labor permits and left for Israel in Shrawan, six in Bhadra, two in Ashoj, one in Kartik, one in Mangsir, and one in Falgun.
After the war between Hamas and Israel broke out in October 2023, 10 Nepali students under the "Learn and Earn" program lost their lives. In response, the government temporarily suspended the deployment of workers to Israel.
Israel usually recruits 60 percent women and 40 percent men from its total foreign worker intake.
