Ban fails to deter women from traveling to Gulf states for work
Number of women going to the Gulf countries for employment is on the rise despite a government ban on women under 30 from traveling to the region to work.
Nepal government introduced the ban in August 2012 with a view to curb the rising abuse and exploitation of Nepalese women migrant workers by agents and employers.
But the authorities have failed to enforce the ban as agents have been circumventing it by taking the women to India and putting them on flights to Gulf countries.
The annual statistics of aspiring women migrant workers using the Indian route to travel to the Gulf nations points toward an increasing trend, as per Maiti Nepal, a non-government organization actively involved in controlling human trafficking.
In 2015, 295 women were sent back from the Kakadbhitta border as they tried to enter India to catch flight to Gulf countries according to Maiti Nepal eastern regional chief Govind Ghimire. Likewise, a year ago, 250 women were handed over to their families.
“We usually stop four to five Nepali girls or women on a daily basis at border points and hand them over to their guardians,” Ghimire said.
According to Maiti Nepal, rise in poverty and desperation due to the earthquake in April last year has pushed many women to the clutches of agents. As per Maiti Nepal, women easily fall prey to fake assurances by agents of better job, but many of them end up at Indian brothel.
Ignorance, unemployment and lack of proper education are among different reasons why Nepali women are compelled to leave for the Gulf countries.
Although police and Maiti Nepal have been carrying out joint operations against human trafficking, agents often succeed in sneaking women into India by changing routes.
It is very hard for them to stop women who identify themselves as wives of the agents and who claim that they are entering India to find work there, police claim.
Published on: 7 January 2016 | Republica
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