Monthly remuneration: 1,550 Ringgit; Work: security guard. Indra Khadka, a local of Satabariya VDC in Dang district, found the job offer from Malaysia attractive when a manpower company approached him.

Khadka had seen the earnings of migrant workers returning from Malaysia. So, he was confident that he would also make a lot of money.

On May 26, he flew to Malaysia from Kathmandu at 2 am. Along the way, he imagined Malaysia to be a beautiful country. It was 9 pm local time when he landed at Kuala Lampur airport.

Soon after he landed, he found that it was very different from what he had imagined. He had to face difficulties starting at the airport itself, and he started thinking of returning home.

"Right after I landed at the airport, all my enthusiasm vanished. I regretted coming at all," he said.

The airport at night: No one from the company had come to receive him as per his contract. The police took him to a large hall. The hall was overcrowded with Nepali workers lying on the ground. Some of them seened to be restless because of hunger. Khadka could not contain his emotions.

It was already midnight but the employer company had not come to fetch him. He was starving as he also joined other Nepalis lying on the cold ground. He was restless and could not sleep that night.

"There was no drinking water," he said. "Malaysian police were treating the Nepali workers worse than animals."

The hungry Nepali migrants had to sleep on the ground. The police treated them roughly. They were not allowed to go outside the hall. If they had to go to the toilet, which was outside, they had to submit their passports to the police, Khadka said.

"If anyone spent more than five minutes in the toilet, he would be kicked by the police," he further said. The police allowed two persons at a time to go to the toilet. They had to stand in a queue for permission to go to the toilet.

There was another room beside the big hall and many Nepalis inside that were visible from outside through the glass windows. Later, Khadka would learn that migrant workers whose employer-company representatives do not turn up even after three days to receive them would be held captive in that room after seizing their mobile phones, purses and other valuables.

According to Khadka, the migrant workers in the hall are considered illegal if their employers fail to come and receive them. They are held captive inside the nearby room and are never allowed to go outside.

Khadka was greatly worried thinking about the pitiful condition of those inside that room. He thought that his life also would turn pitiful if he had to go inside there and the police took away all his valuables. He wondered how those Nepalis would escape.

According to Khadka, many Nepali women were also going through the same horrible experience in the hall. There was no phone and he wondered how the migrants will be able to establish contact with their prospective employers.

The second day after his arrival, Khadka was still waiting for his employers to turn up and his fears increased .

He at last managed to call the employer company at the contact number which was given to him by the manpower agent. "I came to learn that the company was never informed that I had been sent to Malaysia," he said . Only then did a representative of the company come to received him from the hall at 2 pm on the second day of his arrival. He heaved a huge sigh of relief.

As per the contract, Khadka was employed at AVANI Sepang Goldcoast Resort as a security guard. Even after finding employment, he is not confident about his security. He still fears for his life as a migrant worker. He said that anything can happen to Nepali workers.

Nepali workers in Malaysia are at risk of attack by local youths, according to Khadka. "Nepali workers are forced to hide from Malaysian youths," he said. Cases of attacks and lootings of Nepali workers by local youths are rampant.

Although he has been in Malaysia for three years as per his contract, he plans to come back at the earliest. He added that he will get a fake medical report to return to Nepal.

Kashiram KC of Ghorahi, another migrant worker in Malaysia, also spoke of the plight of Nepali workers. "Malaysian police badly thrashed a Nepali worker who was unable to sit properly in the hall," he recalled. Nepali workers dare not ask Malaysian police any questions.

Like Khadka and KC, the plight of many Nepali workers in Malaysia starts right after they land at the airport. They have to face humiliating behavior from the police when they reach the airport or if their empoloyers fail to come and pick them up.

Published on: 22 June 2015 | Republica