The government has stopped granting prior-approval to Nepali women for jobs in Lebanon, responding to growing insecurity for Nepali women there.

Kashi Nath Marasini, director of Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), told myrepublica that the decision was taken with immediate effect from Wednesday, keeping in view the increasing reports of suicide by Nepali women - who are mostly employed as domestic helps -- and torture meted out to workers by their employers.
“We are also discouraging the workers who are applying for final approval for employment in Lebanon,” Marasini told Republica on Thursday. He also said around four dozen women have already got final approval for Lebanon.

According to media reports, nine migrant workers, including two Nepali women, committed suicide due to excessive torture by their employers. More than 200,000 women work as housekeepers and cooks in Lebanon.
The government had reopened Lebanon in the second week of May, after a few months of restriction imposed on the back of escalating violence in Middle East.

Published on: 26 November 2009 | Republica