Amid increasing incidents of protests by workers and subsequent action against them in host countries, the agencies also objected to the rising trend of blaming them for all the problems in the foreign employment sector by overlooking the anomalies in government agencies and irresponsible acts by the workers. [break]
“The role of migrant workers should be clearly defined in laws so that they can be held responsible for their unlawful activities in labor destinations when they return home,” Somlal Bataju, president of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA), said at an interaction on ´Role of Migrant Workers´ Monday.
In the last few years, a number of Nepali workers have returned from Libya and Qatar due to misunderstanding with employers and recruiting agencies. Similarly, recent unlawful protests by Nepali workers in Malaysia had taken nasty turn, provoking the local security forces to intervene.
The manpower agencies have also expressed objection over the practice of fixing minimum salary of workers by the government instead of employers in recipient country. “More than 90 percent of the overseas employers are not following the salary set by the government as they are free to offer salary as per the capability of the workers,” Bataju added.
Presenting a working paper on ´Role of Migrant Workers´, Hem Bahadur Gurung, chairman of SOS Manpower Service, said the trend of workers staging protests in job destinations had emerged as a serious problem in the foreign employment sector.
Tilak Ranabhat, former president of NAFEA, also sought clear provision to punish workers who are found involved in unlawful acts in host countries.
Sita Devkota, member of Foreign Employment Promotion Board, said agencies should inform workers about the host countries and their jobs before leaving for overseas jobs.
Some of the participants, however, said problems pop up in workplaces due to fraudulent acts of manpower agencies and government agencies responsible to regulate this sector.
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