THE Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of the Nepal Police seized a large number of illegal passports and documents for foreign employment purposes in a raid at the Baneshwor-based Kelvin Travels. Acting on the tip-off from special intelligence, a CIB team raided the office of the travel agency on Wednesday evening.

“We were informed that the travel company was illegally sending Nepali workers abroad. In the raid, we recovered about 100 passports and fake documents,” said a senior official who wished to remain anonymous. He also said that a few people have been arrested during the raid and that various equipment were confiscated. Under current provisions, it is illegal for travel agents and consultancies to sent migrant workers abroad.

The Foreign Employment Act describes such acts as human trafficking. The officials said the company was sending workers abroad in an organised manner. It had seemingly taken passports under promises of sending the workers to big western countries.

“We suspect them to be involved in a number of cases. The seized passports and documents show a strong indication of their involvement in many illegal foreign employment businesses,” said the official. He also said that the CIB had only completed a preliminary investigation and had yet to establish the truth.

“We are still conducting the investigation, so we cannot say anything until we establish the truth,” said CIB chief, Upendra Kanta Aryal. Details of the raid are likely to be made public on Thursday at a press meet.

The Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) claims that a large number of travel agents, education consultancies and hotels are illegally sending workers abroad. The DoFE receives a number of complaints through phone calls or in person on a daily basis.

“The setting of travel agents and airport officials has been a major challenge. Travel agents’ anomalous activities are widespread,” said DoFE Director General Purna Chandra Bhattarai.

The CIB has rescued around 40 people from human traffickers and clamped down on many smugglers this year. Just a few days earlier, the CIB nabbed Manoj Bahadur Singh, who had accumulated over Rs 100 million under promises of sending workers abroad.

Published on: 20 September 2012 | The Kathmandu Post