Bhawana Upadhyaya

Should there be a will, there is a lot the state can do to protect women’s rights even with the existing resources and infrastructures. But the recent ban that the Government of Nepal has imposed on the migration of women under 30 years of age to the Gulf countries for employment is certainly not one of them.  A number of concerns and opinions have surfaced around ever since; including the New York-based Human Rights Watch asking the Nepali government to lift the ban immediately.

Even a country like Saudi Arabia, where women are governed by Islamic laws and are often restricted from driving and travelling, demonstrated a laudable gesture by sending women athletes to complete at the London Olympics. Jere Longman in The New York Times quickly wrote, “It’s a victory for the Saudi women”, even before the games began. Of the total approximately 10,500 athletes, women comprised more than 40 percent at the London Olympics.

It’s far too easy for the Nepali government to wash their hands and put a ban in place without properly digging into women migrant workers’ problems. Besides heeding to the suggestion of lifting the ban, the government needs to revise the policy and appoint a labour attaché exclusively responsible to look  after the issues of women migrant workers at home and in the host countries. Second, negotiations with Gulf countries should start at the earliest after obtaining adequate information from other labour-sending governments.  In addition, the government can empower consulates to take decisive steps towards upholding the rights of migrant workers, instead of just coordinating deportation of alleged workers or transportation of coffins of country fellows back home.

There are many options that can be strategised to protect women migrant workers’ rights without barring them to go to work in the Gulf countries. For example, coordination with the UN and other relevant organisations to integrate and implement various orientations, advocacy and training programmes can be done in addition to strict monitoring of manpower agencies’ operations. 

Merely curtailing women’s’ rights to work as migrant workers would not resolve the problem as there are illegal channels offering women ways to fly out and even be trafficked through the Nepal-India border. This is something that the government and relevant ministries have known since long. We have been hearing the concerns of officials at the Ministries of Labour and Transport Management and Foreign Affairs over the rising trend of women being migrated without proper documentation. 

Apparently, it is no surprise to anyone that quite a number of Nepali women have been subjected to torture and exploitation in many Gulf countries. The news of suicide committed by 15 Nepali women in Lebanon in 2009/10 still rings loud in our ears. However, the other side of the story is also true that migrated women workers promote their economic independence; enhance their social status, sustain their families and children and provide safety nets back home. 

Poverty, insecure livelihoods, family pressure, joblessness, persecution, displacement, insurgency, natural disasters, ethnic conflicts, etc, are seen as the main reasons that fundamentally push Nepali women towards a greater degree of mobility. Likewise, desire for a better living, competitive life style, and interest in a wider exposure, role emulation and material indulgence are luring these women for employment outside the country.  The government shouldn’t be stopping such women who wish for their social and economic independence and rather should be finding mechanisms to encourage them. One way would be to ensure their safety in the host countries.