Provision in offing to bar sending of female foreign job seekers through personal contacts

The government decision to restrict women below 30 years of age from going to Gulf countries will be applicable only for domestic workers, officials at the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) said. The provision will not include women going for formal, institutional and service sectors as reported by some daily newspapers, according to the officials.

The Cabinet meeting on Wednesday had increased the age limit for women domestic workers after various stakeholders cited reports of rampant sexual abuse and exploitation of housemaids in the Gulf countries. The provision was implemented with recommendation from stakeholders, including the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE), the DoFE, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nepali missions in the Gulf countries and the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies.

DoFE Director General Purna Chandra Bhattarai told the Post that the new provision is a step taken to make the foreign employment sector secure, organised and systematic. He clarified the provision dœs not prevent women from going to the Gulf countries in other sectors. “Such age limit exists in the countries like India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka as well,” Bhattarai said, adding that sending mature workers was the only way to fight the challenges. According to Bhattarai, the labour laws of the Islamic nations do not cover the domestic workers, thus making the monitoring of domestic workers’ condition even more difficult.

Bhattarai said serious anomalies have emerged in the foreign employment sector, especially for the domestic helpers, as agents send even minors disguising their real age. “Around 90 percent of domestic workers are going though personal contacts, making the monitoring process even more difficult,” said Bhattarai. According to MoLE officials, they are also going to implement new legal provisions that will make mandatory for women domestic workers to go to the Gulf countries through institutional process. Similarly, the MoLE is working to implement a mechanism that will bring all migrant workers under the vigilance of Nepali missions.

The mechanism will also monitor the activities of foreign employment agencies in Nepal and destination countries. Bal Bahadur Tamang, chairman of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies, said the new provision, which has been implemented with consent from employment agencies, could solve problems women face in the Gulf countries. “The job of housemaid demands a lot of mental and physical strength. Only mature women can work as housemaids,” Tamang said. “Women have to work at odd hours and young girls cannot withstand the pressure.”

According to the DoFE, around 23,000 women went abroad to work as domestic workers last year. Unofficial estimation claims that as much as 200,000 women have been working in the Gulf countries.

Published on: 10 August 2012 | The Kathmandu Post