Kunwar returns with support of fellow migrants
The last of the stranded Nepali migrant workers stranded in Kuwait after being made redundant by their company has returned home with the assistance of Nepalis welfare groups.
Suresh Kunwar, who was originally supposed to return home along with 20 other migrant workers, was told to stay back by the officials at the Nepali embassy at the last moment, citing he had not paid the 42 KD fine charged by the Kuwaiti authority for overstaying his visa.
He has claimed that the embassy paid the overstay fines of other workers, but his was left unpaid for no apparent reason.
“They had asked me to get ready and come to the embassy to collect my ticket and passport. At the final moment, the embassy told me that I would have to pay the overstay fine to get the air ticket. I was the only one whose fine was not paid by the embassy,” said Kunwar.
Kunwar and 20 other Nepalis, who were employed by the construction company, Kharafi National, were allegedly laid off with several months worth of their pay unpaid. They had been languishing in the Gulf state for months, until the government finally decided to rescue them.
The Nepali Embassy had contacted SOS Manpower Pvt Ltd, the agency responsible for supplying the workers to Kharafi National, to return the stranded workers.
While all of Kunwar’s colleagues were sent home, he remained in Kuwait, helpless to improve his situation because he did not have 42KD that he was supposed to pay as fine for overstaying his visa.
Kunwar said he received help from Sindhupalchok Sewa Samaj, Dalit Ekta Sanjal and the Nepali migrants from Lumbini after the embassy rebuffed him.
“I am thankful to the Nepalis there who came to my rescue,” said Kunwar, who returned home on Wednesday night. An estimated 300 Nepali migrant workers are still said to be stranded in Kuwait without jobs and money.
Published: 24 December 2017 | The Kathmandu Post
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