The recruitment is illegal, say the Nepali stakeholders concerned

KATHMANDU, Jan 26: The Qatari government has recruited Nepali youths in its police force without any agreement with the Government of Nepal. Any country must have an agreement while recruiting citizens of another country into its security forces. Despite Nepal's labor agreement with Qatar, there is no agreement between the two countries to recruit Nepali youths into the security forces of Qatar.

Nepal has signed agreements with Malaysia, Singapore and India to allow Nepali youths to join their security forces. Nepal and these three countries have also reached an agreement in this regard. But no such agreement has been reached with Qatar so far.

Nepal has already shown interest in this matter after Qatar wanted to recruit Nepali youths in its police force. The Nepali Embassy in Qatar has suggested to the Qatari government that if the Nepali youths are to be recruited in Qatar Police, then there has to be an agreement for the same between the government bodies concerned of the two countries. But Qatar is illegally recruiting Nepali youths in its police force. Some Nepali manpower companies and individuals are helping Qatar in this regard.

“We informed the Qatari government a few months ago that it is necessary for the ministries of labor of both Nepal and Qatar to take a firm decision after learning that Nepali youths have been recruited in Qatar Police,” Nepal's ambassador to Qatar, Narad Nath Bharadwaj said in a telephone interview. “The Qatari government has not responded to our request. On the other hand, recruitment of Nepali youths in Qatar Police has not stopped.”

Ambassador Bharadwaj informed Republica that the Government of Nepal has made its view clear, maintaining that an MOC (Memorandum of Corporation) should be signed for the enlistment Nepali youths in the security forces of Qatar. “But the Qatari government has not shown much interest,” he said. He said that 180 Nepali youths have been officially recruited in Qatar Police.

A high-ranking source, however, said that a large number of Nepali youths have already joined the Qatari police force through illegal recruitment.

Advocate Som Luitel, who is well versed in labor laws, said that any of the two countries cannot recruit the citizens of the other country into its security forces without an agreement between the two countries. According to him, if Nepali youths are to be recruited, it should happen in accordance with the provisions of the agreement between the two governments. He informed Republica that countries like Malaysia, Singapore and India have been recruiting Nepalis into their security forces after signing separate agreements with Nepal.

Labor expert Ganesh Gurung also clarified that Qatar is not allowed to recruit Nepali youths without the approval of the Government of Nepal. “Without an agreement between the two countries, it is not possible to recruit the citizens of the other country in a sensitive sector like the security forces,” he said.

Kumar Prasad Dahal, director general of the Department of Foreign Employment, said that the Qatari government has been illegally recruiting Nepali youths into its police force. “Immediately issuing visas to youths illegally selected by the manpower companies means that there is involvement of the government,” he said. “Rather than stopping such recruitment, we find it more appropriate to bring it into a process via an agreement between the two countries.”

According to a high-level source, Qatar has adopted an illegal method to recruit Nepali youths without showing any interest in making an institutional decision. It is issuing visas to Nepali youths without any agreement. Taking advantage of this opportunity, some people in Nepal and some manpower companies are extorting up to Rs 1.5 million from each unemployed Nepali youth interested in joining Qatar Police.

Despite government officials urging all those concerned to stop the rampant recruitment process, the illegal process has not stopped. Minister for Labor, Employment and Social Security, Gauri Shankar Chaudhary on Monday reversed the action taken by the department against three manpower companies accused in the case. This has drawn Minister Chaudhary into the circle of suspicion. The department had taken action against SOS, DD Human Resource and Hope International for illegally sending Nepali youths to be recruited into Qatar Police.

Though Minister Chaudhary ‘pardoned’ the three manpower companies, the department raided another company, Kalyan Security, on Monday. The department raided the company’s office in Sinamangal in the capital on the suspicion of selecting Nepali youths for recruitment into Qatar Police.

Director General Dahal said that the raid was carried out on the basis of information that youths had been interviewed with the promise of sending them to Qatar for recruitment into its police force. The department has recovered job application forms of 22 people who were interviewed.

Meanwhile, Sujit Kumar Shrestha, general secretary of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA) said that other people rather than manpower companies might have sent Nepali youths to Qatar.

The Foreign Employment Act 2064 has stated that the demand letter from the destination country should be verified even before going for general employment. There is a legal provision that only qualified people should be selected for the relevant job by verifying the demand form and publishing the information in public. People selected through this process do not need to pay more than Rs 10,000 each.

 
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