The government decision came following an announcement by the Malaysian government this week to stop recruitment of foreign workers citing global financial crisis.
“We decided to stop fresh work permit to Nepali workers who are preparing to leave for Malaysia after we received a letter from the Nepal mission in Malaysia,” Mohan Krishna Sapkota, director general of Department of Foreign Employment (DoEF) told myrepublica.com. [break]
Sapkota said 589 Nepali job aspirants were waiting for final permission at the DoFE for last ten days.
The Nepali mission in a fax message had requested the Ministry of Labor and Transport Management (MoLTM) not to issue fresh final permission for Malaysia citing job insecurity for workers there in the wake of global financial meltdown.
According to Sapkota, the Nepali embassy made the request following a meeting between Rishi Adhikari , Nepali ambassador to Malaysia, and officials of Malaysian Labor Department.
“We are holding a meeting with Nepali manpower agencies to discuss the latest Malaysian move,” added Sapkota.
“We will consult with Nepali mission officials about possible way out to the problem,” said Sapkota.
Only this week, a Malaysian firm called Evergreen Heavy Industrial Corporation laid off 73 Nepali workers citing financial problem.
Malaysia is employing more than two million migrant workers including 400,000 Nepalis. More than 50,500 Nepalis had left for Malaysia during the fiscal year 2007/08 mostly for blue collar jobs.
prabhakar@myrepublica.com
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