Deported migrants
Government missions need adequate resources to help migrant labourers
The Saudi Arabian government has recently been making efforts to regulate migrant labourers. Over the past two years, the country’s government has been implementing a number of policies geared towards ensuring that more natives are employed. As such, it has established a rule that makes it compulsory for most enterprises to ensure that at least 10 percent of its employees are locals. The Saudi government has also been seeking out and deporting large numbers of migrant labourers who do not have the necessary permits. This has severely impacted Nepalis working in Saudi Arabia. Over 1,000 Nepalis have already been deported from the country in recent months.
It can readily be imagined that these deportations have led to major stress among Saudi Arabia’s Nepalis. Many of them may well be happy to return to Nepal. But they are kept in prison-like facilities, often for weeks on end, and this is a source of torment. Furthermore, these deportations have caused stress to the Nepali embassy in Saudi Arabia as well. The deportees have to follow complex procedures and this includes getting a letter from the embassy. The embassy currently has only seven staff. It also has to handle the embassy’s day-to-day functioning and so dealing with deportees has increased its workload to levels that are barely manageable. In the short term, the government would do well to deploy Nepalis to the embassy in Saudi Arabia or employ some temporary local staff. This will speed up deportations and possibly ensure that Nepalis will not have to languish in make-shift facilities awaiting deportation for a long time.
It is estimated that around 60,000 of the 700,000 Nepalis currently in Saudi Arabia do not possess legal permits. This is a mind-boggling number. That so many Nepalis have been able to enter and work in Saudi Arabia illegally, or managed to stay longer than their permit allows, indicates that it is easy to bypass regular channels. There is thus a need for the Saudi Arabian and Nepali governments to work together to ensure that the process through which Nepalis enter Saudi Arabia is tightened. By ensuring that all Nepalis who go to seek employment in not just Saudi Arabia but also other Gulf countries do so legally, it will be possible to ensure better living and work conditions for Nepalis. Over the longer term, the government needs to take further steps to take care of Nepali migrants in the Gulf. Many countries to which Nepalis go in search of employment do not even have Nepali embassies. If they require help they have to go to Saudi Arabia, which many of them find difficult to do. The Nepali government should begin consultations to establish embassies in all Gulf countries that have a substantial Nepali presence and ensure that these are properly staffed.
Published on: 29 April 2013 | The Kathmandu Post
GET IN TOUCH