A source at the Ministry of Labor and Transport Management (MoLTM) told myrepublica.com that the government would soon appoint labor attaches to Japan, South Korea, Kuwait, Israel, Hong Kong, Bahrain and Oman.
Of the seven destinations, only South Korea and Bahrain have inked labor agreement with Nepal. The government has signed an agreement with Japan to send Nepali industrial trainees to Japan, whereas diplomatic efforts are on to open labor market of Hong Kong for Nepali workers. Hong Kong shut doors for Nepali workers from 2005, expressing serious concerns over the increasing involvement of Nepali workers in illegal activities, including drug peddling. The number of Nepali female workers is higher than Nepali male workers in Kuwait.
The government will appoint under-secretary level officers for Japan and South Korea, whereas sections officers will be deputed in other five countries.
“We have selected seven more countries to deploy labor attaches, keeping in view the increasing number of workers, rising job-related cases and suggestions from concerned ambassadors,” the source told myrepublica.com on Sunday.
As per the Labor Act, 2007, the government has to appoint labor attaches to countries having more than 5,000 Nepali workers.
The MoLTM will soon write to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of General Administration and the Ministry of Finance for necessary allocation of quotas and resources and to request them to coordinate with Nepali missions in those countries to depute labor attaches.
The government has already appointed labor attaches to four destinations -- Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates -- which are the most popular destinations for Nepali workers. Under-secretaries Binod Khanal and Surya Prasad Bhandari have been appointed as labor attaches for Saudi Arabia and Malaysia respectively. Likewise, section officers Dhruba Prasad Koirala and Parvati Aryal have been deputed in Qatar and the UAE respectively.
“We have received positive response from the labor destinations after the appointment of labor attaches. We are getting information about Nepali workers and the problems that they are facing. It is helping us to deal with such problem at the earliest,” said the source.
“This has encouraged us to appoint the labor attaches to seven more destinations which house significant number of Nepali workers and are facing labor issues.”
prabhakar@myrepublica.com
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