Govt resumes providing labor permit for Malaysia

Published On: April 1, 2019 09:19 AM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

In this file photo, Malaysia-bound youths wait to board their flight at Tribhuvan International Airport. Photo: Republica

KATHMANDU, April 21: Migrant workers, who were deprived of going to Malaysia since the last ten months despite getting their calling visa, can now go to Malaysia for job after the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security instructed the concerned authorities to give them labor permit.

The government decided to resume providing labor permit for Malaysia following commitment from the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies and the Malaysian embassy in Kathmandu to resume the long stalled employment process for those migrant workers who have already received calling visa.

The government of Nepal had stopped sending migrant workers to Malaysia on May 16, 2018 after four outsourcing agencies hired by the Malaysian government including VLN were found overcharging Nepali migrant workers. Due to this, the aspiring migrant workers had been deprived of going to Malaysia despite completing all formalities. A migrant worker has to spend at least Rs 30,000 to get the calling visa. The government was criticized for barring the migrant workers from leaving the country even though they had already completed all the process required before going to Malaysia.

As many as 7,000 aspiring migrant workers were barred from going to Malaysia despite fulfilling the process to obtain visa. The process of sending fresh aspiring migrant workers to Malaysia, however, still remains uncertain even after a bilateral agreement was signed between Nepal and Malaysia in the last week of October for the resumption of labor export to Malaysia.

As per the agreement, Malaysia had agreed to bear all the expenses required for health check up, passport and immigration security charge on behalf of the employers.

The agreement also states that Nepali manpower agents would get half of one month’s salary as part of service charge for sending the workers.

The process of sending fresh migrant workers to Malaysia is still uncertain as disputes have surfaced between the two countries over whether to allow the previous outsourcing agencies for handling pre-visa processes. Nepal wants to recruit new companies for pre-visa task whereas Malaysia is for giving continuity to the previous outsourcing companies.