According to the Foreign Employment Act, migrant workers must obtain a foreign job permit from the Department of Foreign Employment and use the country’s only international airport for their departure. 

 

Department of Foreign Employment is mulling on introducing the ‘human trafficker’ tag to reduce fraud cases and undocumented migrations, said director general of the department Purna Chandra Bhattarai. “Outsourcing agencies and agents violating legal provisions while sending workers for foreign jobs will be placed under that category,” he said. “It will help promote safe migration.” 

 

Undocumented migration is rampant in the country. More than 3.5 million Nepalis are believed to be working in foreign countries but only 2.2 million migrant workers have been documented at the department in the last 18 years. 

 

The situation of women migrant workers is worse. According to documented data, only 46,587 women have joined foreign jobs so far, but the UN Women estimated about 256,662 Nepali women workers in foreign jobs last year. 

 

Agents of outsourcing agencies have been sending Nepali women to Gulf countries via India. “Everyday, 60/70 Nepali women reach the job markets via New Delhi and Mumbai,” he said, adding that the department is planning to monitor the outflow to enforce the human trafficking provision. Nepali women who have reached Gulf countries — Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and others — through illegal channels work as domestic helps. 

 

Domestic helps are not protected by the labour laws of Gulf countries and one-third of the women migrant workers have been cheated of their salaries or are being exploited and abused. Every week, about 30 Nepali housemaids take shelter in safe houses operated by Nepali diplomatic missions in four prominent destinations — Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait — due to torture and exploitation meted out by employers. Since 2009, nearly, three dozen women migrant workers have committed suicide annually in the Gulf countries . 

 

Non-government organisations, who have been working for the welfare of women migrant workers have welcomed the government’s decision. “But, it should not obstruct women’s rights to foreign jobs,” said president of Pourakhi-Nepal Manju Gurung. She urged the government to have a clear provision defining outsourcing fraud and human trafficking. “At least, women migrant workers should not suffer,” she added. 

 

Migration expert Dr Chiranjivi Nepal echoed Gurung and said, “The government is on the right track about safe migration of workers but it must show more courage to fight this years-long disease.” According to him, outsourcing agencies violating foreign employment laws are indeed human traffickers and must be punished accordingly. 

 

“Human trafficking is no doubt a punishable act but we doubt the department’s capability to differentiate between foreign employment fraud and human trafficking,” said president of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA) Som Lal Bataju.