Roshan Sedhai

Penury pressed Mohan Lal Sapkota, 35, to leave home for foreign employment third time in his life. The assurance of Kathmandu-based travel agent to provide work in a supermarket with Rs 45,000 monthly salary tempted him to try his luck in Iraq. But luck had something else in store for him. 

Although he headed for Iraqi province Kurdistan without any hassles at the Tribhuvan International Airport, he was stopped at Erbil airport for travelling in a fake visa and subsequently deported to Nepal. He was taken in custody in the Hanumandhoka Police Range on charge of forgery for sixteen days before being released on Friday following a court order. The court order said he was innocent. 

Sapkota’s case is just a tip of the iceberg of the well-channelled ‘setting’ at the TIA that has troubled an increasing number of migrant workers. The Department of Foreign Employment on Friday received complaints from three other workers who experienced similar plight. 

The other workers submitted by the police along with Sapkota are Rupen Chhantyal, 25, Hari Chhantyal, 25, and Man Bahadur Sunar, 30. The workers expressed ire over facing a legal charge despite being victims themselves. 

“We were victims and the irony is that we were taken in police custody. This is simply nightmarish,” said Man Bahadur. Officials said a number of workers fall prey to the nexus of TIA officials and employment agencies everyday. 

DoEF Director General Purna Chandra Bhattarai said they have been receiving complaints everyday. “The situation is getting serious day by day. The deeply entrenched ‘setting nexus’ should be destroyed to save workers,” said Bhattarai.

According to him, hundreds of people are being sent to Iraq and Afghanistan every month. The government has banned workers from going to these countries except for special cases. These countries face security threats and it is difficult to get jobs there. Most of the workers do not even make it to Iraq or Afghanistan, but are kept for months in cities like Dubai.  

“The setting is particularly active in sending ineligible workers to those countries without legal documents. We are planning to take strong action against them soon,” said Bhattarai. 

Officials say the ‘setting cost’ involving foreign employment agents, immigration officials, police and other stakeholders range from Rs 10,000 to Rs 60,000. As the number of ineligible workers is huge, the money becomes big. They let the workers go without checking in return of hefty sums. 

“We were taken to hospital in the last hour and rushed to the check points. They checked our entire visa and documents at the immigration but did not say anything. Everything was planned,” said Sapkota.

The workers had gone through the Thamel-based Anuja Travels. According to them, they paid Rs 250,000 each to its proprietor, Manish Baral. The temptation for handsome salary often allures workers like Sapkota. 

“I couldn’t earn much in Malaysia and Qatar. The salary was only Rs 10,000. So, I thought this was a chance to earn a fortune,” said Sapkota.  

After the failure of its TIA reformation plan, the government formed a Rapid Response Team (RRT) some weeks ago. The RRT had punished nine civil servants for unscrupulous acts a week ago.
Sources say it was just a popularity stunt against massive public criticism. They said the stakeholders should come up with inspection plans after thorough revision to loopholes in its former mechanism. 

Published on: 2 September 2012 | The Kathmandu Post