Fraud being committed by erring outsourcing agencies and their agents have been a challenge in managing safe migration. The Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) has registered about 782 fraud cases in the first four months of the current fiscal year.

The department recorded a large number of outsourcing fraud cases between Shrawan (mid-July to mid-August) and Kartik (mid-November to mid-December) because we have started taking immediate action against the culprits, said director general of DoFE Purnachandra Bhattarai in an interaction today.

“We punished about 100 outsourcing agencies for their involvement in fraudulent activities,” he said, adding that the department immediately suspends the licence of an outsourcing agency once a complete complaint has been filed at the department.

Similarly, DoFE registered 175 agents in the current fiscal year. “Just four agents had been registered since the Foreign Employment Act was enforced in 2007,” he said. DoFE has also revised its monitoring and complaint hearing systems. “We immediately start investigations and action is taken as soon as we receive a complaint,” he said.

Despite that, fraud cases have been growing due to agents. He urged victims of outsourcing fraud to complain with adequate documents. Fraud cases relating to dhukuti and other financial crimes have also been filed at the department. Bhattarai urged people to not bring such cases to DoFE.

According to him, the department is facing problems in settling fraud cases as most are associated with family members and relatives. “There is not sufficient proof in most cases as the first agent is usually the migrant’s own family member or relative,” he said.

Bhattarai hoped that fraud cases will reduce significantly once the department starts monitoring agents and outsourcing agencies. DoFE will start the work shortly.

However, non-governmental organisations working in migration urged for a revision of the foreign employment law and withdraw the ban on women migrant workers who are below 30 years of age. The government is violating the human rights of women who are below 30 years, said president of Women’s Rehabilitation Centre Dr Renu Rajbhandari. “The government has banned job opportunities for girls by imposing the ban. It must be lifted,” she said.

According to her, the government must build a rapid response team to solve women’s problems in destination countries. “A ban is not a solution. There should be employment options for the affected people,” she said. The government had imposed the ban on August 9, 2012.

Despite the ban, women migration has increased significantly. DoFE’s data reveals that the number of women migrant workers reached 2,377 in Asoj (mid-September to mid-October) as compared to 1,452 in Bhadra (mid-August to mid-September).

Published on: 20 December 2012. The Himalayan Times