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After sending hundreds of thousands of Nepalis to the Gulf and Middle East countries for foreign employment, the Nepal government is now eyeing European and American destinations for the same, officials said yesterday. |
The Foreign Employment Promotion Board (FEPB), a government agency that takes care of foreign job destinations for Nepalis, said it has begun to explore new places where the Nepalis can without troubles and are paid higher as compared to the Middle East and Gulf nations, Xinhua reported.
Following the growing cases of Nepali migrant workers suffering from under payment, deceptions and harassment at the hands of their employers in the countries like Malaysia, Qatar, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait among others, the government is looking for safer and attractive destinations.
“FEPB has formed a task force last week to identify European and American destinations where Nepalis can have safe working environment with higher pay structures,” Raghu Raj Kafle, deputy director
general at FEPB, said.
He said the taskforce comprising the officials from ministries of labour, foreign affairs and finance along with non-resident Nepalis and foreign employment experts will submit a report within a month identifying the destinations in the developed Western countries.
“The report will not only recommend the potential labour markets in West but, it will also suggest on if those markets are appropriate for Nepalis foreign job seekers on the basis of factors like, minimum wages and facilities, living expenses, working safety, nature of jobs available and other safety conditions, among others,” Buddhi Bahadur Khadka, a senior official at Nepal’s labour ministry said by phone.
He said once the task force submits its report, the government will initiate process towards signing labour pact with the potential destinations within this year, adding: “If things go well, Nepalis will officially begin to go to Western job markets with the beginning of next year.”
Nepal is one of the world’s largest migrant workers suppliers. Government data suggests that some 1,500 Nepalis fly to foreign destinations every day at an average in pursuit of jobs after employment at home is on crunch due to the declining economic and industrial activities following the decade-long political instability.
According to FEBP, the country could receive the remittance more by three folds than what it has been enjoying at the present once the unskilled Nepalis are made skilled and sent to Western countries for different jobs.
In the last fiscal year, Nepalis working in different foreign destinations had sent back home remittance worth $5.43bn, more than the Himalayan nation’s total annual budget size.
Even though Nepal has opened 109 countries for its citizens to go and work, all the migrant Nepalis have been limited to only 25 nations, of which more than 90% migrant workers have gone to Malaysia, Saudi Arab, Qatar, Dubai and Kuwait while only 1% Nepalis have gone to European and American countries by taking labour
permit from the government.
