Departures of migrant workers rose 19 percent in the first quarter of the fiscal year on strong hiring from major labour destinations like Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.

According to the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), 130,784 migrant workers (including 34,135 returnees) left the country in Q1. In the same period last year, the number of outbound workers was 109,554 with most of them going to Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Among the departures in Q1 this year, 92,330 workers went through the mediation of agencies while 38,451 left the country through personal contacts.

The DoFE issues permission for foreign employment to people going through recruiting agencies or personal contacts. The number of workers using the services of agencies during the review period jumped 69 percent year on year. The trend of finding jobs through agencies increased after the government began applying restrictions on leaving through personal contact and involvement of middlemen more stringently, according to the department.

Since Malaysia hires Nepali workers only through agencies, hiring has almost doubled from Q1 last year. It took in 41,244 workers this year against 23,503 last year. With the increase in hiring, Malaysia has again become the largest labour destination.

“Compared to Gulf countries, Malaysia offers good salaries and facilities to Nepali workers which is the reason the number of workers going there has been increasing,” said Kamal Tamang, general secretary of the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies. He added that Nepali agencies had not been able to send workers to the Gulf in the numbers demanded as job seekers were more interested in going to Malaysia.

A recent report has revealed that Nepal is the second largest supplier of workers to Malaysia after Indonesia. Local recruiting agencies said that more Nepali workers would be leaving for Malaysia this year as it has okayed hiring security guards from Nepal. “We expect to supply some 25,000 security guards this year,” said Tamang.

In the last fiscal year, Qatar was the top hirer of Nepali workers. However, during Q1 this year, hiring of Nepali workers by major labour destinations like Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait has dropped. Qatar absorbed 20,759 individuals against 36,385 workers in Q1 last year.

Saudi Arabia hired 26,050 Nepalis this year. Similarly, the UAE and Kuwait hired 13,283 and 2,495 workers respectively during Q1 this year.

Published on: 2 November 2012 | The Kathmandu Post