Nepali women workers still face a de facto ban on their entry into the Gulf countries as domestic help even after the promulgation of Foreign Employment Act-2007, states an Amnesty International report.

“Although there are currently no official bans in place on women migrating for domestic work, Amnesty International interviews and meetings with recruitment agencies, brokers, NGOs and migrant workers indicate that many believe there is still an official ban on domestic work to Gulf states,” says the report titled “False Promises: Exploitation and Forced Labor of Nepalese Migrant Workers”. The report was unveiled by Amnesty International Tuesday in Kathmandu. 

According to the report, Nepali women migrate to the Gulf via more informal routes with even greater risks of exploitation due to restrictions or de facto ban on their work as domestic help. 
The act had revoked the ban, which was imposed by the government in 1997 following the death of a Nepali woman in the Gulf. The approval of Terms of Reference (ToR) by the Ministry of Labor and Transport Management (MoLTM) further facilitated Nepali women´s entry into four gulf countries -- Kuwait, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

However, the Amnesty International report says many women workers, including some manpower agents, are still unaware of the lifting of the ban. 

“Still, Nepali women need to produce consent letters from their husband or father before going to work as domestic help in the Gulf countries,” said Norma Kang Muico, author of the report. “This is an outright violation of human rights. It is a discriminatory practice, too.”

However, Purna Chandra Bhattarai, Director General of Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) contradicted the report. “Today, Nepali women no longer need consent letters from their families to work as domestic help in the Gulf countries,” Bhattarai said. “This practice no longer exists. I wonder how Amnesty International made such errors.”

In the same report, Amnesty International has revealed that some unscrupulous manpower agencies are deceiving migrant workers by not providing them with contract letters written in Nepali language and taking more money from them than the amount set by the government. 

Amnesty International has recommended that the government fully ensure implementation of the act.

Published on: 14 December 2011 | Republica