Nepal relatively remained insulated from the global financial crisis. However, the impact is still felt on overseas labor market, especially in the destinations such as the United Arab Emirates, where more jobs for migrant workers haven’t been created. Although the impact of the economic slowdown is cooling down, threats to Nepal’s foreign employment sector from other factors are still imminent.
Nepal’s overseas employment sector which constitutes one-fifth of the total gross domestic product is now facing many challenges, in addition to the global economic crisis. With the number of workers leaving abroad increasing each day, thanks to the government’s exploration of new destinations, and the mobility offered by globalization, dealing with the issues pertaining to migrant workers and securing their rights in foreign lands are getting tougher for the government. In the absence of a strong overseeing mechanism, the government does not have access to information pertaining to these workers’ whereabouts and whatabouts. Besides exploring new destinations and sending workers abroad, the government has to shoulder the task of securing their rights in foreign land, during and after their service there. However, owing to the limited number of personnel in Nepali missions abroad in proportion to the soaring migrant workers and the growing number of labor destinations, it is becoming increasingly difficult to deal with the issues pertaining to labor such as physical and economic exploitations, torture, mistreatment and cheating by employers and concerned manpower agencies, untimely deaths and mutilations.
However, one of the major threats to booming foreign employment is growing uncertainty about the sustainability of this sector. Many of the host countries’ have already minimized the number of foreign workers, or are contemplating doing so to provide the local youths with employment opportunities. Our government has no concrete plan and policy to stave off the challenges in coming days if overseas job prospect faces crisis.
Reports of exploitation and deaths of Nepali workers in Gulf countries, one of the major destinations of Nepali workers, clearly show the insecurity faced by our workers there. According to reports, more than 400 Nepalis have lost their lives in Gulf countries and Malaysia. Unfortunately, most of the deaths were due to suicides, cardiac arrests and other causes which are easily preventable in a good working environment. Owing to the insecure environment there for women, the government has virtually closed Nepali women to work as domestic helps in those countries for the last two years.
Malaysia has already announced that it would cut down on hiring foreign security guards to provide employment opportunities for the members of Civil Defense Department (JPAM) and People’s Volunteer Crops (Rela) in different security agencies. This decision is crucial for Nepal as Malaysia hasbeen recruiting Nepali workers exclusively in the securities sector.
A recent decree issued by Afghan President Hamid Karzai requiring private security companies to disband by mid-December, has also posed threat to thousands of Nepalis working there. Karzai’s move is aimed at replacing foreign guards with Afghan security forces to create more job opportunities for the natives. An estimated 15,000 Nepalis are working in Afghanistan – mainly as security guards—in private companies, UN agencies and NATO force.
Israel which was the most lucrative destination for Nepali female care-providers and agriculture technicians has been closed for more than a year due to Israel’s objection over growing anomalies and irregularities by manpower agencies who fleece exorbitant charge with job seekers.
Not only the old destinations, but the new destinations have also failed to prove themselves to be safe and lucrative. Latest example is the plight of 108 workers in Libya, which was recently opened by the Nepal government as a labor destination. Following the bankruptcy of the employer company--CKG Construction, 108 workers were rendered jobless and compelled to languish for more than four months in a prison like camp in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, prompting the Nepal government and International Organization for Migration to step in to repatriate them to Nepal. According to the returnees, excessive exploitation by employers and cases of mugging and assault of migrant workers are common in Libya, which has been luring foreign workers to supplement the deficit of workforce in ever-booming construction sector there.
Owing to the lack of a detailed knowledge about new destinations among manpower agencies and the government officials have further aggravated the problems in foreign employment, which is already getting complicated for other reasons. Frequently changing policies of the governments of host countries toward the migrant workers is a wake up call to the source countries like Nepal. On the other hand, over dependence on limited countries as labor destinations despite opening of new destinations has also posed a great threat to overseas job opportunities.
According to government data more than 91 percent of over 294,000 workers who left for jobs abroad during the year 2009/10 went to Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. We have ample examples that even a minor policy change on overseas migrants in the key host countries would highly cost Nepal’s overseas job prospect. Therefore, the government has to strengthen its diplomatic missions with sufficient human resources and keep a database of migrant workers to ensure early response to any problems in the host countries and secure the rights of our workers. The government should immediately come up with a migration policy that can address the wide ranging issues of migrants through long-term perspective rather than dealing each case on an individual basis like in the repatriation of workers from Libya or lifting the ban on working in Iraq.
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