HOM KARKI

Twelve Nepali migrant workers are languishing in Qatar without food and adequate bedding for the past one month. They had arrived in Qatar for employment through Kathmandu-based foreign employment agencies—Shift Gorkha International and Gorkha Nepal.

They were kept in a room by their employer firm, Malabar Trading, and Contracting. The company has yet to provide them with proper jobs. Without any means of earning in the foreign land, these men have been left to their own devices. So far, they have been surviving with the help of a fellow Nepali migrant worker, who stops by every once in a while with food.

“We don’t have even one Qatari Riyal with us. We handed the last of our 1,000 Qatari Riyal to the company representative to buy air tickets to return home. He stopped visiting after that. The agencies that brought us here are also not hearing our grievances,” said Tara Poudel of Gulmi.

Poudel and four others—Lal Prasad Thagunna of Darchula, Krishna Bahadur Kafle of Nawalparasi and Ram Prasad Chaudhary, and Milan Danawar of Udaypur— had applied for jobs in Qatar through Shift Gorkha International. Similarly, Chudamani Oli of Rolpa, Mahendra Sada of Mahottari and Chandra Bahadur Thami, and Jit Bahadur Thami of Ramechhap were the clients of Gorkha Nepal. The identity of three other men in the group could not be ascertained.

Dipak Gharti of Nawalparasi, who has been providing food to these men, said the victims are living in an abject condition and need immediate rescue.

“They had paid up to Rs 80,000 to come to Qatar, hoping to earn some money and help their families back home,” Gharti said.

The victims claimed the company was keeping them illegally without any work and wage. They visited the Nepali Embassy on Sunday to appeal for rescue.

They have also requested the Foreign Employment Department to take action against the agencies responsible for sending them to Qatar.

Published on: 26 November 2013 | The Kathmandu Post