Foreign employment sector needs a comprehensive periodic review of policies and programmes for safe migration. An analysis of the destination country and its policies and programmes is a must to identify problems and address them on time, said experts of the sector.

Nepal does not have any mechanism to conduct research in foreign employment sector. “It is the greatest obstacle in managing the sector,” said economist Dr Chiranjivi Nepal. The sector, which is a major source for earning foreign exchange for the country, has been operating without any supporting organisation.

“Therefore, we are facing unwanted problems in migration process and in destination countries,” he said.

According to him, the government needs to build a research institution to suggest policy measures on migration. “There have been rapid changes in the foreign employment sector. Therefore, we have to analyse the foreign job scenario, trends and other policies to make foreign jobs safe and beneficial for our people,” he said.

Philippines — a worker sending country — has been analysing foreign job markets on a quarterly basis. The Philippines Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) conducts policy review of the home country and destination countries and suggests new policy measures to the government. It also pressures the receiving countries to meet the requirements.

Philippines analyses job markets according to gender, safety, and salary and benefits. Its periodic review covers major trends of job markets in individual countries along with government policies that affect migrant workers. “POEA’s major focus is on the safety of its citizens,” said deputy director of POEA Liberty T Casco.

Philippines has been sending its workers to countries ‘where the rights of Filipino migrant workers are protected’. It has signed the Filipino migrant workers rights agreement (commonly known as labour pact) with 187 countries including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman.

However, the Gulf countries do not have comprehensive migrant rights for domestic workers.

“We must follow the model adopted by the Philippines if we want to safeguard workers in foreign lands,” said president of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies Bal Bahadur Tamang. “Labour agreements with destination countries are a must.” The country does have labour agreements with half a dozen nations though.

Nepal has adopted safe migration criteria for Nepali women migrant workers bound for Gulf countries — UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait — but the safety situation of women has not improved. “It is because we have not reviewed the policy timely,” said Nepal.

The government, in August, had set a rule stating that women migrant workers who wanted to go abroad as housemaids had to be of a minimum age of 30 years. The Department of Foreign Employment has been issuing work permits to women above 30 years only. Yet, more than 30 girls have been leaving the country for Gulf jobs via India every day. “It is because we have not been able to find safer jobs for them,” he said.

The country also does not have any mechanism to explore other foreign job markets or analyse market trends. Therefore, Nepali women have not been getting jobs other than as housemaids in Gulf nations.

Published on: 15 September 2012 | The Himalayan Times