KATHMANDU, Oct 23: As to when exactly will Nepali migrant workers get to travel to Malaysia remains unclear even as Kuala Lumpur recently raised labor wages.
Malaysia has suspended the recruitment of migrant workers from all countries, including Nepal, since May 31, 2024, citing internal management reasons. This suspension has led to a significant decrease in the number of workers traveling to Malaysia, prompting growing interest from countries like Nepal.
According to the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), a total of 259,594 Nepali workers obtained approval to work in Malaysia during the fiscal year 2022/23, including 7,299 women.
Nepali workers have predominantly chosen Malaysia for foreign employment. However, the number of workers struggling to find jobs in Malaysia has also increased. Malaysia's decision to halt the entry of workers stemmed from many immigrant laborers, who paid high recruitment fees, being unable to secure jobs with adequate salaries.
Malaysia has also launched a repatriation program for foreign workers who are residing illegally after halting the entry of foreign workers. The repatriation program for foreign nationals living illegally in Malaysia, which started on March 1, will continue till December 31, 2024.
Currently, thousands of Nepali workers seeking foreign employment are waiting to go to Malaysia, Nepalis’ major work destination for the past couple of decades.
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“While there are hopes that Nepali workers will be allowed to travel to Malaysia soon, it is still unclear as to whether workers in large numbers will be able to make it to their preferred destination,” Rajendra Bhandari, the president of the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA) Bhandari stated that.
Nepali workers in Malaysia are employed in five different sectors. The largest number of workers is found in the manufacturing sector; followed by the service sector; agriculture; construction; and horticulture, also known as the plantation sector. "The plantation sector has been opened up to a limited extent in Malaysia," Bhandari said. "There many Nepali workers find employment opportunities in the manufacturing sector," he added.
"Perhaps, this is why Nepali workers go to Malaysia in large numbers, but currently, there are issues in both the economy and employment sectors there. It doesn't seem likely that a large number of workers will be going from Nepal immediately," Bhandari said.
Some foreign employment agencies have focused exclusively on sending workers to Malaysia. With this option currently unavailable, manpower agencies face challenges in renewing their licenses, as the government has a policy against renewing licenses for agencies that fail to send at least 100 workers within a year.
Among those currently working in Malaysia, many workers are unskilled or semi-skilled. Recently, there has been an indication that Malaysia is focusing on bringing in skilled workers. Nearly 15 percent of Malaysia's total labor force consists of foreign workers.
According to the Malaysian government's 2022 statistics, the number of Nepali workers employed there exceeded 335,000, with female workers accounting for nearly three percent of that total.
Malaysia is expected to start hiring foreign workers around June or July 2025, but there has been no official communication to this effect, according to Kabiraj Upreti, the officer at the Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Social Security (MoLESS).
The zero-cost labor agreement between Nepal and Malaysia, established five years ago (in 2075 BS), is set to expire on October 28. Information officer Upreti has stated that there will soon be information regarding the renewal of the labor agreement with Malaysia.
According to him, new labor agreements are also set to be established soon with Oman and Spain. Upreti revealed that the renewal of labor agreements with Malaysia, Qatar, and South Korea is also on the cards.
With Malaysia implementing a repatriation program for foreign workers who have stayed illegally, they also launched a program under the Migration Preparation Program that allows individuals to return home by paying a maximum fine of 500 Malaysian Ringgit.
Under this program, individuals who entered Malaysia without a visa or overstayed their visa can return home by paying a fine of 500 Malaysian Ringgit. Those who violated visa regulations while staying in Malaysia face a fine of 300 Malaysian Ringgit for repatriation.
The minimum wage for workers in Malaysia was previously set at 1,500 Ringgit (Rs. 47,000 at the current exchange rate) but now has increased to 1700 Ringit or NRs. 53,000. However, due to the economic recession, employers have struggled to provide overtime pay and have been forced to maintain only the minimum wage.
This new wage will take effect from February 2025.
Among Nepali workers pursuing foreign employment, those in Malaysia will now receive the highest minimum wage. In the Gulf countries, Qatar has established a minimum wage of 1,000 Riyals (Rs 34,000), while countries like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait have not set a minimum wage, resulting in ongoing changes to contracts for workers heading to those countries.
Bishnu KC, the chairman of Aakarshan International, which has been sending workers to Malaysia through zero-cost and free visa-free ticket programs, stated that the process for sending workers to Malaysia will open by the end of this year. He mentioned that various audits and tasks are currently ongoing with the companies they have been supplying workers to.
"Although we are currently unable to send workers, other administrative tasks are ongoing. We will begin the process of sending workers once it opens," KC said. "It is difficult to say exactly when, but we expect it to open soon."
There are more than 300,000 Nepali workers in Malaysia. According to the DoFE's data, in the last fiscal year 2023/24, 103,442 Nepali workers received approval to go to Malaysia. Among them, 101,000 are men and 2,424 are women.
