The Ministry of Labor and Transport Management (MoLTM) Sunday forwarded a draft of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to be signed with the Lebanese government to the Ministry of Law and Justice (MoLJ) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) for their suggestions.[break] The Labor Ministry would send the draft MoU to Lebanon after getting feedbacks from the two line ministries.
“The draft MoU is mainly focused on ensuring legal rights and welfare of Nepalis working in Lebanon. After the agreement is signed, both the countries will be legally bound to take responsibility of the migrant workers as per existing laws,” a source at MoLTM told Republica.
The government last year restricted workers to leave for Lebanon, responding to increasing cases of exploitations on Nepali workers - most of who are working as domestic helps. As many as 15 Nepali women had committed suicide last year due to excessive torture meted out by their employers.
Nepali workers in Lebanon are facing a host of problems and are being deprived of their professional rights in the absence of legal protection. As per the existing practice, workers can enjoy professional rights as per the labor agreement signed between workers and employer companies.
“Rights of Nepali workers will be legally protected once the agreement is signed. Employers in Lebanon will be responsible to fulfill obligations as stated in the labor contract,” the source added.
The MoU envisages a joint committee, comprising officials in equal representation from both the countries, for effective implementation of the pact which will be valid for five years and subject to automatic extension for another term. The committee will meet at least once in a year so as to minimize the misunderstanding in the process of implementation of the agreement. The panel will also have the authority of determining the modality of labor contract between Nepali workers and employers in Lebanon.
As per the draft agreement, both the governments will be responsible to regulate manpower agencies and employment process in both the countries so as to systematize the recruitment process. Nepali workers can remit their salaries to Nepal in any foreign currencies recognized in Lebanon.
The government has no exact data about the number of Nepalis living in Lebanon. However, manpower agencies say the number hovers around 20,000 to 30,000. According to Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), a total of 3,782 workers - 3,701 through institutional channel and 81 through personal contacts - left for Lebanon in 2009/10, up from 3,446 that left for the Asian nation a year earlier.
During the 99th session of International Labor Organization (ILO) held in Geneva, Labor Ministers of both the countries verbally agreed to initiate the process of signing the agreement at the earliest at the sidelines of the 99th session of International Labor Organization (ILO) held recently in Geneva.
Nepal has already signed labor pacts with Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and South Korea. An agreement has also been signed with Japan to send Nepali industrial trainees to Japan.
According to the Foreign Employment Act 2007, the government must sign labor agreements with key labor destinations to ensure welfare of Nepali workers.
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