Roshan Sedhai

With a view to assessing the ground situation of Nepali migrant workers , the government will soon be sending a team to Iraq and Afghanistan. A Tuesday meeting of the Foreign Employment Promotion Board , chaired by Labour minister Post Bahadur Bogati, decided to send a team led by the Nepali Ambassador to Pakistan to these two countries. The meeting also decided to allocate budget required for the purpose from the migrant workers ’ welfare fund.

Despite the potential security threat and the existing government ban on these two countries, an increasing number of Nepali migrants are illegally entering these war-ravaged areas. Human traffickers have been smuggling workers to these countries on exorbitant charges.

Tuesday’s meeting was attended by 16 of the Board’s 25 executive committee members, including representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Department of Foreign Employment. “This team will conduct a preliminary study to assess the current situation of these countries. We will take further action on the basis of the field report of the team,” said Joint Secretary at the Labour Ministry Binod KC.

The team will also ascertain if it is possible to open consulate offices in these countries. Nepali Ambassador to Pakistan Bharat Raj Poudel said they were ready and awaiting a go-ahead from the government. “We are ready and willing to do what is required. We will leave once we receive an indication from the government,” Poudel told the Post via telephone from Pakistan. Poudel is also likely to submit his Letters of Credence to the Iraqi president during the visit.

Although the government has no official data on the exact number of Nepalis working in these countries, workers claim that an estimated 40,000 Nepalis are currently employed in Afghanistan, almost equal to the number of those working in Iraq. Unlike in Afghanistan, many Nepali women are also working in Iraq as domestic help. DoFE records show that 823 migrant workers left the country for Afghanistan so far this year. Workers claim that the money they make in these countries is far higher than what they make elsewhere in the Gulf.

Amnesty request for five Nepalis

Tuesday’s meeting also agreed to ask the visiting team to request the Iraqi president to provide amnesty to five Nepali prisoners and find out the current status of around 40 Nepali nationals jailed in Iraqi prisons.

Prem Bahadur Singh of Kailali, Rajaram Khakural of Dhading, Jit Bahadur Tamang of Nuwakot, Gopal Sharma Amgain and Rajesh Lama have been languishing in Iraqi prison in the face of diplomatic failure to secure their release. Sharma and Lama were initially handed a prison sentence of a few months but that was extended to three years later. Khakural, Singh and Tamang are currently serving their terms in the Kurdistan-Sulemania jail for the murder of one Surya Bahadur Uchai Thakuri of Tanahun.

However, the trio’s families have provided Rs 2.5 million to Thakuri’s wife, Amritamaya, as blood money for her consent to forgive the trio. The families of the prisoners have already completed all their legal obligations in order to secure the trio’s release. However, they have yet to be freed.

After several requests from rights group and family members, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai and the Nepal chapter of Amnesty International had also asked the Iraqi president to provide amnesty to these prisoners.

Published on : 8 March 2013 | The Himalayan Times