The total number of cases filed against fraudulent manpower agents and companies fell by 3.58 per cent in the first four months of the current fiscal year, albeit the number of fraud cases filed against manpower companies went up during the period.

In the period between mid-July and mid-November, a total of 754 cases were filed against manpower agents and companies by people seeking foreign employment opportunities, the latest statistics of the Department of Foreign Employment show. In the same period last fiscal, 782 such cases were lodged. Such cases are filed by foreign job seekers after they are duped by manpower agents and companies or if these agents fail to send them abroad on time.

With the drop in the number of cases, the compensation amount demanded by victims also declined to Rs 329.99 million this fiscal as against Rs 364.66 million in the same period last fiscal.

In the four-month period of this fiscal, 431 cases were filed against manpower agencies demanding a compensation of Rs 71.26 million, while 323 cases were filed against individual agents demanding a compensation of Rs 255.73 million.

In the same period last fiscal, 312 cases were lodged against manpower agencies demanding compensation of Rs 7.57 million and 470 cases were filed against individual agents demanding compensation of Rs 9.14 million.

Fraud cases filed against manpower companies have gone up as many overseas recruitment firms have started depending on individual agents to get them business, according to president of the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA) Bal Bahadur Tamang said.

“To survive the stiff competition, some agencies have started issuing manpower agent license to locals. These people raise money from locals seeking jobs abroad and flee,” Tamang pointed out.

Cases against individual agents, on the other hand, have come down in the four-month period due to awareness campaigns launched by the government in various districts, said the information officer at DoFE Diwas Acharya.

According to him, awareness campaigns are currently being held in districts where the migration rate is high. “During these events, we ask foreign job seekers to approach registered companies to get placements abroad, because the government keeps track of all manpower companies that are in business,” Acharya said.

Yet, cases filed against individual agents are still at the higher end as people who take part in illegal money lending business-like ‘dhukuti’ ask the borrower to sign a legal document guaranteeing job placement abroad, Acharya added.

“They do this because fraud cases on foreign employment are settled earlier and those who have been duped have a better chance of getting compensation early,” Acharya informed. “Similar trick is also used by people who invest in real estate.”

DoFE settled cases worth Rs 71 million in the four-month period, of which Rs 38.91 million were related to cases filed against individual agents and Rs 32.09 million were related to cases filed against manpower companies.

Published on: 16 December 2013 | The Himalayan Times