Nepal’s manpower agencies have called off their planned protest after the government assured them that their demands would be addressed within 45 days.Nepal travel guide
The agencies decided not to launch the protest after reaching an agreement with the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security on Monday. The government has pledged to address the 15-point demands put forward by foreign employment entrepreneurs within the next one and a half months, according to the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA).
NAFEA General Secretary Hari Dangi said manpower agencies would resume regular operations from Tuesday.
One of NAFEA’s key demands is the withdrawal of action taken by the Department of Foreign Employment against several manpower companies. The association has also called for amendments to the Foreign Employment Act 2007 to establish transparent costs for workers and a scientific basis for determining the service fees charged by recruitment agencies.
The entrepreneurs have also raised concerns over rising airfares and what they describe as artificial shortages of airline tickets to major labour destinations. They have urged the government to intervene to curb practices that increase the cost of migration for Nepali workers.
NAFEA has also demanded that the government introduce a fully automated system for labour-demand verification and labour approval. It has called for diplomatic initiatives to dismantle what it describes as syndicates and monopolies involving intermediaries in Saudi Arabia’s visa and biometric processes, police report verification in the United Arab Emirates, and labour recruitment in Malaysia.
