The Nepali Embassy in Malaysia on Wednesday repatriated 21 Nepali migrant workers languishing in Malaysian detention camps. The mission has repatriated 450 Nepalis from the Southeast Asian country in the last one year. 

 

The workers had been arrested for working without legal status and forced into in the detention camps as they could not afford air tickets for their return. 

 

“The workers were sent home with assistance of various organisations and Malaysian companies,” the embassy said in a statement, adding that efforts are being made for safe repatriation of other workers held in various detention centres. An estimated 10,000 Nepalis are believed to be serving jail terms in Malaysian prison after being arrested for non compliance with the country’s immigration rule. Besides, more than 50,000 Nepalis are believed to be working without legal status. The Malaysia government has launched a crackdown on foreigners working illegally in the country, after temporarily suspending further hiring of foreign workers to “regulate domestic labour market and encourage local youths to take on unskilled jobs.”

 

Malaysia’s jail and detention camps are notorious for harsh treatment to foreigners. Nepal’s former foreign Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha said the Nepalis were facing “inhumane treatment”.'