With an unprecedented rise in the number of workers going abroad, a total of 1,126 complaints of fraud were lodged at the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) in the first seven months this fiscal year. The amount of compensation the workers have demanded is the highest claim ever recorded by the DoFE in such a short period as only Rs 226 million was sought in damages last year.

 

According to the DoFE, of the total fraud cases, 718 individuals were cheated at the personal level and 408 at the organisational level. The total money swindled by manpower agents amounted to Rs 527.786 million, while the figures reached Rs 158.275 million at the organisational level. It also said 269 fraud cases have been solved through mutual understanding and 91 are awaiting court verdicts. The DoFE is still undecided about what should be done with the remaining cases. 

 

“The department cannot afford to compensate the workers. The country is not in a condition to compensate them from the taxes collected from the poor people,” said DoFE Director General Purna Chandra Bhattrai. “A single organisation alone has cheated around 600 workers. In this situation, we cannot compensate all the workers.”

 

Spokesperson of the Ministry of Labour and Transport Management (MoLT), Buddhi Khadka, said the ministry has no plans to compensate the workers. “The minister had raised this issue and directed the department to look for alternatives. But it is not so simple as we have to think of funds. Moreover, if we compensate the first lot of workers, others will follow suit and claim damages in the future. It is not practical for the government to compensate them,” Khadka said.

According to the DoFE, more than 1,000 workers have filed fraud complaints against manpower companies, including Well International Manpower, Opportunity Manpower and Unification International Education Consultancy, this year demanding compensation. The operators of most of these companies are on the run. Government officials say lack of awareness and the gullible nature of workers are the major reasons for the increase in fraud cases.

 

Equally worrisome is the fact that the government has failed to arrest absconding fraudsters, dimming hopes of the workers to see blackmailers behind the bars.