Govt's 'secret' Malaysian employment deal embroiled in dispute

Published On: January 11, 2024 09:30 AM NPT By: Sabita Khadka

NAFEA warns of launching protest if contract is not terminated

KATHMANDU, Jan 11: The Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA) has expressed serious objection to a secret agreement concluded on December 6 between the Foreign Employment Board of the Government of Nepal and the Malaysian private company 'Foreign Workers Welfare Management Center' (FWWMC).

According to the agreement, FWWMC is authorized to look after the welfare and safety of Nepali workers in Malaysia. The NAFEA has also warned to protest against such 'illegal' agreement, which was made without consulting the active stakeholders in this area, if it is not canceled.

According to the agreement, the Malaysian company will get to collect 45 US dollars (Rs 6,000) for each Nepali worker. The NAFEA claims that collecting money in this way is against the labor contract.

According to Executive Director of the Foreign Employment Board (FEB) Dr Dwarika Upreti, an agreement was signed with the center to look after the welfare and safety of Nepalis workers in Malaysia. According to him, this agreement will not impose any additional financial burden on Nepali manpower companies and workers. But the officials of the NAFEA have claimed that even though the board said this, in the end this burden falls on the workers.

Rajendra Bhandari, the president of the NAFEA, alleged that such agreements are made in different ways in different periods of time to monopolize employment in Malaysia, an attractive destination country for Nepalis. "The gang that maintains such a monopoly has brought welfare benefits to the workers with the aim of controlling them through digital means and keeping all the job demands under their control," Bhandari said in a press conference held on Monday. “It seems that Upreti, the executive director of the Foreign Employment Board, is caught in the clutches of the plan,” Bhandari added.

The agreement was signed on December 6 between Upreti, Executive Director of the FEB, and Tanasilen Dinnegan, Director General of the FWWMC.

The agreement has been made for five years to be implemented from January 1. In this way, the NEFEA officials claimed that the plan brought by the syndicate was a serious secret, without any discussion and information with the important partner organizations, the NAFEA.

"Making an agreement hastily without discussion and study with all the partner organizations is a wrong intention and flawed," Bhandari said. He stated, "It seems that the agreement with the private company to which the controversial person is connected by stealth under the name of welfare work has set the basis for maintaining the employment monopoly of Malaysia in the future. Allowing a private company to record the personal details of Malaysian employers and workers is flawed.”

The NAFEA has given an ultimatum to the executive director to immediately terminate the contract as the FEB has no jurisdiction to decide on such controversial contracts.

The FEB has written to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security to implement the agreement between the FEB and the FWWMC. If the agreement is implemented, the employers of Malaysia will have to submit the demand letter at the Nepalese Embassy at the rate of 45 US dollars for each worker.

"The FWWMC has received permission from Malaysia to do welfare work," Upreti, the executive director of the FEB, told Republica. "The FWWMC will look after all the welfare of Nepali workers. If there is a labor problem, it will solve it by coordinating with the employer. The labor will be taken to the hospital in case of injury, illness or accidents. If the worker does not get food, the center will provide them with food. The Nepali Embassy will not have to take any stress on such labor matters.”

It is mentioned in the agreement between the FEB and the FWWMC, that a company will be established and operated in Nepal to facilitate the company. According to the agreement between the FEB and the FWWMC, the NAFEA has claimed that it should pay several times more than the amount paid to the Government of Nepal. Bhandari, the president of the NAFEA, also said that the fee paid will not go to the revenue account of Nepal but will go to the account of the private company in Malaysia.

President Bhandari claimed that even if additional fees are collected from Malaysian employers, the final burden will fall on Nepali workers. "It is a challenge to work strongly on behalf of the workers when making a labor agreement with Malaysia by keeping ambassadors and diplomatic staff, it is directly a syndicate. It is one of the tricks to extract money,” said Bhandari.

According to the labor agreement dated October 29, 2018, it is mentioned that the Malaysian company should pay 1000 ringgit (currency of Malaysia) if they hire 1 to 25 workers, 1200 ringgit if they hire 26 to 100 workers, and 1400 ringgit if they hire 101 to 200 workers.

The press release issued by the NAFEA reads, “If the said agreement is not rectified, the syndicate will be established over time. If the agreement is not revoked, the NAFEA will announce a phased protest program as well as eventually stop sending workers."

Bhandari has also put forward a 10-point demand addressing various issues seen in the field of foreign employment. Recently, various problems have been observed in the field of foreign employment, and the NAFEA has requested the government to address these problems immediately.

The NAFEA has also drawn attention to various problems related to foreign employment. The NAFEA has demanded that the biometric system imposed by the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Nepal that is a burden in terms of both time and money for the workers be removed through diplomatic initiatives, and the anti-business agreement between the Executive Director of the Foreign Employment Board Secretariat and the FWWMC be revoked.

The other demands of the NAFEA include compulsory examination for semi-skilled and unskilled workers going for foreign employment should be abolished as it will increase the financial burden without looking at the justification, the unnecessary standards of the procedures made in the name of free training should be removed. According to the new standard of orientation training, the NAFEA also demands that the training be arranged before granting passport and LT number.

The NAFEA has also urged for the immediate end of individual approval for personal labor that benefits human trafficking and exploitation. It demands that authorities should conduct thorough investigations and take legal action against those involved. The NAFEA has put forth a new demand for regulating foreign employment destinations, especially Japan, Israel (excluding care-giver jobs), and ensure proper management of sending workers to South Korea on E-7-visa through entrepreneurs.

The Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Nepal, has been criticized for providing ID cards only to a limited number of entrepreneurs for hiring workers to send Nepalis to Saudi Arabia. There have also been complaints about unnecessary hassles for obtaining ID cards and withdrawing ID of some entrepreneurs without proper justification. Due to these issues, the NAFEA has called for a halt to such practices and emphasized the need for equal opportunities for all entrepreneurs to engage in the recruitment of workers to send them to Saudi Arabia. The NAFEA has urged for a fair and transparent system, preventing discrimination and ensuring that all entrepreneurs, including new entrepreneurs, have an equal chance to send workers to Saudi Arabia.

To amend the Foreign Employment Act, 2064 BS in a timely manner, the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security should coordinate and discuss with the NAFEA and start work as soon as possible. Similarly, the last demand of the NAFEA is that the work should be started immediately to bring the Foreign Employment Information Management System (FEIMS) into operation.