KATHMANDU, Aug 22: The main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) has asked the government to rescue and repatriate Nepali migrant workers, who lost their jobs as a result of COVID-19 pandemic, free of cost.

The opposition party has urged the government to utilize the amount in the Foreign Employment Welfare Fund to repatriate stranded migrant workers living in vulnerable conditions. 

While stating that the recent decision of the government to make returnee migrant workers bear all the costs associated with their return home on their own makes a mockery of humanity, the party also alleged that the government was focused on nurturing business interests even when rescuing desperate Nepali migrant workers stranded for months in various labor destinations.

“It should be the sole responsibility of the state to rescue their citizens who are left stranded in an alien country. But our government is adding fuel to the fire by charging those laborers who are already in deep trouble,” the party said in a statement on Saturday.

The government’s decision to force the workers abroad to pay for their air tickets on their own, bear a week-long quarantine expenses upon their arrival in Nepal, get PCR tests done on their own expenses and bear travel cost to their home is likely to aggravate their problems, the NC said in the statement.

NC Spokesperson Bishwa Prakash Sharma in the statement also accused the government of treating its own citizens indecently at this hour of national crisis, ignoring their contribution to keep the country’s economy afloat through remittance. 

It may be noted that the Supreme Court had earlier on June 15 had issued a directive to the government to repatriate Nepali migrant workers, who were left stranded in the foreign countries, for free of cost.

 
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