30, from Okhrani VDC-2, Sundarijal, Kathmandu recently returned from Lebanon after working there for two-and-half years as housemaid and helper in a grocery.

 

She said, “Poverty compelled me to become a migrant worker at a young age,“ adding, “Due to lack of work skill and language problem, I had to work for low salary although I worked for more than 16 hours a day.“ She was provided us $ 150 each month, but if she had experience and skill, she could have earned more than US $200.

 

She suggested that a Nepali national vying for foreign employment must be aware of language, socio-cultural and many other aspects of the country.

Skill is also important to bargain with the employer.

 

Similar is the case of Soma Rai, currently living in Madhyapur Thimi-16, Bhaktapur, originally from Kavre, she said she was not experienced and had language problems while working as care giver in Hongkong.

“I was neither aware of Hong Kong laws nor had I any work experience, therefore I was not paid fully by the employer,“ Rai said.

 

She said caregivers are paid HK $ 3,270 but she was paid only HK $ 2,500. “I did not know their language and law therefore I could not bargain thus I terminated my contract after six months and began to learn language and other work skills to present myself in a prepared way next time.“

Saru Joshi Shrestha, South Asia coordinator of UN Women said that many women migrant workers were switching to third countries without any skills and basic information about the destination country, risking their lives.

 

She said that out of total migrant workers in the international labour market, 50 per cent were women workers whereas 100 million women were domestic workers.

 

“Remittance from women has helped achieve MDGs as remittance of 25 per cent of Nepali migrant women is spent on their children’s education,” she added, “Thus we should respect them and also provide skill training.” She further said that undocumented migrant workers were more vulnerable than documented workers, therefore they needed to check this and initiate measures to stop it.

 

Manju Gurung, president, Paurakhi, a non government organisation working for migrant workers said that Nepali workers lack opportunities to be financially independent within the country, therefore willingly or unwillingly, they switch to third countries.

 

She said, “In every kind of mobility, there is risk for men and women therefore they should be well trained and provided basic information about the country where they are moving.” According to the Ministry of Labour and Transport Management, currently, Nepali workers are scattered in more than 108 countries.

Around three million documented and undocumented people are going to third countries, except India, where 11 per cent are women. But unfortunately, the government does not have any programme to provide market oriented skill training to migrant workers.