The absence of embassies in the destination countries and lack of prior counselling has added fuel to the fire.

 

Excepting Libya, the Nepal government has not banned Nepali workers from entering Arab states engulfed by internal wars. Records show that 4,498 Nepalis left for Oman, Jordan, Yemen, and Bahrain—countries which are still volatile—this year.

 

“Initially, Syria and Yemen were also in the black list. But many people started entering these countries illegally via India. Therefore, for proper record, we decided to allow them to go to these countries,” said an official at the Foreign Employment Department.

 

Officials at the Migration Resource Centre, the government’s authorised counselling agency, say very few people take counselling from it. Only 446 people consulted it before leaving for foreign destinations.

 

“Most workers do not know that we exist. Workers who received counselling before leaving for these volatile countries are few,” said Sthaneswor Devkota, executive director of MRC.

 

Lal Babu Kawari, director of the Foreign Employment Department, said the political situation in other countries is not as bad as in Libya. Therefore, such moves were taken. “No workers have gone to Libya after difficulties in evacuating workers from the troubled zone,” said Kawari. According to him, countries facing conflict do not attract Nepali workers.

 

A total of 1,747 Nepali migrant workers had to be rescued from Libya as the government failed to foresee the danger.

 

Robert Godden, Asia-Pacific programme coordinator for Amnesty International, said the government has to be extra careful while sending workers to a country where there is no embassy.

 

According to him, workers are usually not informed about possible hazards before leaving the country. Most of them succumb to the allure of handsome pays that manpower companies offer.

 

Statistics at Foreign Employment Department show the number of Nepalis who went to Oman, Jordan, Yemen and Bahrain is 1556, 118, 4, and 2820, respectively. As reported by some Western media, there is no sign that anti-government demonstration will stop anytime soon.

 

“New footages from Syria, Bahrain and Yemen show that the power of the Arab Spring, which began a year ago in Tunisia, still grips the region as anti-government protests show no sign of abating,” The Telegraph reported on December 16.