Fifty Nepali youths working at a Saudi company called Mohammad Alpojin Company, have been left in the lurch for the last eight months. The victims have complained about the indifference of the Nepalese diplomatic mission in Saudi Arabia and appealed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) to rescue them.

 

According to the Nepalese migrant workers, the Saudi company has kept them in captivity for over eight months. Along with Nepali nationals, the company had also held migrant workers from Indian and the Philippines, who have already been rescued by their respective embassies.

"We had requested the Nepal's embassy in Saudi Arabia for assistance for our safe return home but the embassy seems to be unconcerned about our plight," said Hem Raj Poudel of Chimti, Baglung. He further complained that they were not being paid any salary for the last one year and that the company had taken away their documents to prevent them from returning home. "The company only provides us two meals a day and has kept us as prisoners," he added.

 

"All 50 of us stay inside the company as the police will arrest us if we go outside," said another victim Dhan Bahadur Basnet, a resident of Kalagaun-3 of Salyan district.

 

Mohammad Alpojin Company has suffered heavy losses and is on the verge of being shut down.

 

"My husband hasn't sent any money for the last three years. Even meeting our daily needs has been tough and managing the tuition fee of our children looks simply impossible," says Kaushila Basnet, wife of Dhan Bahadur Basnet, as tears welled up in her eyes.

 

"Both the government and the embassy have turned a blind eye to their situation," said an infuriated Yog Raj Poudel, the elder brother of Hem Raj.

 

The relatives of the migrant workers are in miserable condition in lack of money. They, too, have urged the Nepal embassy in Saudi Arabia and the Nepal government to take steps for rescuing the workers.