Ramesh Shrestha

Nepalis are not known for globetrotting tendencies, but with employment trends favouring migrant labour, they seem to have been struck by wanderlust. 

These Himalayan landlubbers are now setting sail for exotic destinations attracted by unprecedented job opportunities. The Cayman Islands? Guatemala? Bermuda? You will find Nepali workers in the far corners of the New World.

The Middle East, Malaysia and South Korea may absorb the largest number of Nepali migrant workers, but adventurous job seekers are heading for destinations not on the government’s permitted list. And bewildered officials at the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) are dashing for their atlases for a refresher course in geography.

The DoFE’s list of permitted labour destinations contains 108 countries. According to its records, 72 persons have departed for unlisted countries in the first four months of 2011-12. Last year, the number was 43. Of the total workers who left this year, 20 aspirants have gone to the Cayman Islands.

Even though the government allows recruiting agencies to send workers to 108 countries through an institutional way, aspirants having employment contracts can leave for any country for employment through their personal contact as per the government provision.

“Most Nepalis who went to the Cayman Islands work in the hotel sector as waiters and waitresses,” said Lal Babu Kawari, director of the DoFE. He added that the trend of leaving for new labour destinations apart from the approved countries had increased in sectors such as hospitality, security, medicine and engineering.

The number of individuals hired by non-listed countries this year includes nine workers who went to Papua New Guinea, seven each in Ghana and Guatemala, six in Bermuda, four in Sudan, and one each in Somalia and the West Indies. Last year, 12 persons went to Angola, another non-listed country.

Manpower agencies said that since they were not allowed to send workers to not-listed countries, aspirants had started to find jobs on their own by surfing the internet and through their friends. “Normally, such workers are skilled and earn good salaries too,” said Kumud Khanal, general secretary of the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies. 

According to Suman Ghale, who has applied for a job as a pool bar waiter in Grand Cayman, Nepalis working in hotels earn US$ 10-15 per hour. He was unable to go to the Cayman Islands as he could not get a US transit visa. Grand Cayman is the largest of the three Cayman Islands.

“They have a nine-hour work day, and the facilities provided to the employees are also good,” said Ghale. “However, professional experience of working in international standard hotels is a must,” added Ghale. He has worked as a waiter at the Yak & Yeti in Kathmandu and as a pool bar waiter at the Ritz Carlton in Qatar.

With the growing trend of Nepalis leaving for countries having no diplomatic relations with Nepal, the question of security for the workers has become a concern for the government. 

“It could be difficult for us to rescue workers in case of an emergency,” said Sthaneshwor Devkota, executive director of the Foreign Employment Promotion Board. He added that workers must complete all the paperwork before they leave for their work destination so that the government knows where they are in case of an emergency.

Country    Number of Workers

Angola                   1

Bermuda                6

Burundi                  2

Cayman Islands      20

Congo                    2

Ghana                    7

Guatemala              7

Liberia                   2

Malawi                   2

Mali                       2

Papua New Guinea    9

Somalia                  1

Sudan                    4

Uzbekistan             2

West Indies            1

Yemen                   4

Source: Department of Foreign Employment

Published on: 14 December 2011 | The Kathmandu Post