Summoning secretaries at Home Ministry, Labor Ministry, Foreign Ministry, chief of three security agencies officials of Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) and Department of Immigration (DoI) at his office, PM Nepal directed the officials to bar departure of workers, especially female workers, to Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, on visit visa.[break]
The PM also directed officials to verify documents with visit visa from Nepali missions in recipient countries before issuing permission to workers to leave for those countries under visitor visa.
According to an official attending the meeting, the PM also directed National Investigation Department and DoI to take necessary stopgap measures until the government comes up with necessary provisions.
More than 180,000 female workers are expected to enter Gulf countries every year using visitor visas instead of working visas.
“The PM has also directed us to request the Indian government to control the departure of Nepali female jobseekers to Gulf countries via cities like Chennai and Mumbai,” the official said. “India has put a bar on the departure of Nepali females from New Delhi from last year.”
A high-level panel on October 13 had submitted a set of recommendations to the government, suggesting different measures to secure safety of Nepali workers, especially the female workers. To check the increasing flow of Nepali female workers to Gulf countries through illegal channel, the panel had suggested the government to stop issuing work permit on the basis of visit visas.
The panel had also asked the government to do the needful in arranging joint verification of documents related to visit visas by the representatives from Department of Immigration (DoI), Women Police Cell, National Women Commission and Maiti Nepal to make sure that visit visas are not used for human trafficking.
Amid reports of series of exploitation meted out to female workers in labor destinations, the government had formed the panel to study the status of Nepali female workers in overseas job markets.
Official record shows a total of 114,000 Nepali women are working in different Gulf countries. Saudi Arabia alone is hosting around 63,000 Nepali female workers.
The panel had also suggested the government to play a regulatory role in managing and systematizing the foreign employment sector by strictly formulating a policy of signing labor agreement with host countries, dissemination of proper information on labor destinations, arrangement of necessary training to jobseekers, arrangement of loan to interested youths, arrangement for timely rescue of foreign employment victims, and enhancing the capacity of Nepali missions abroad.
It had also suggested setting up Workers´ Welfare Fund at Nepali missions to ensure timely rescue and repatriation of workers, increase surveillance at Tribhuvan International Airport and enhance the capacity of law enforcing agencies to deliver timely justice to foreign employment victims.
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