Outsourcing agencies and their agents have been responsible for the numerous fraud cases in the foreign employment sector.Unprofessional outsourcing agencies and their errant agents are the major culprits for the growing number of fraud cases, said Minister for Labour and Transport Management Sarita Giri at a programme of Amnesty International (AI) today.

“Agents have been rampantly cheating people in the villages,” she said, adding that due to the agents, people have been paying more money than the prescribed rate to get foreign jobs. “This situation will be taken care of very soon and all outsourcing agencies will be held accountable for their agent,” she said.

Minister Giri promised to categorise outsourcing agencies according to their records and start registering returnee migrant workers from the next fiscal year.

“Apart from these steps, the government will implement suggestions from AI to promote safe migration,” she assured.

Amnesty International, in its report, ‘False Promises: Exploitation and Forced Labour of Nepalese Migrant Workers’, has suggested 19 points to the government that are required for safe migration.

It has emphasised on five improvements including limiting interest rates for foreign employment loans, punishing outsourcing agencies involved in human trafficking on pretext of foreign employment, providing safe job passage to women migrant workers and supporting returnees to establish their businesses and to utilise their money in productive areas.

Fraud in foreign employment has been increasing in recent years. However, this year it has set a record with 1,285 fraud cases in the last eight months.About 572 fraud cases were recorded in the last fiscal. The Department of Foreign Employment has recorded 215 fraud cases in a single month Bhadra (mid-August to mid-September). Of the cases, 153 cases were against individual agents.

Director general of the department Man Bahadur BK echoed the minister saying that the lack of a corporate culture in outsourcing agencies is behind the increasing frauds and cheating. “If they were professional, such fraud cases would not rise to this level,” he said. He promised to strongly implement the Foreign Employment Act to control irregularities.

Likewise, he also promised to strengthen labour diplomacy amongst host countries for the safety of migrant workers. “The government will consider opening labour consulates in major destinations where there aren’t embassies,” he explained.

Published on: 22 March 2012 | The Himalayan Times