Hom Karki

The Nepali migrant workers arrested by Omani authorities in November for entering the country without permission returned home on Sunday after four months in jail. Seven Nepalis, who had been working in Dubai, were headed for Greece without travel permits. They were held before they could make past Oman. They were arrested on different dates. A man identified as Jitendra Shrestha, who is currently based in Greece, had arranged for their trip. They had entered Oman by motorway with the help of some Saudi Arabian agents. From Oman, they were supposed to set sail for Greece via Iran and Turkey. “We came in contact of Jitendra Shrestha, the man who arranged our journey. He had told us that he would take his pay once we have safely arrived in Greece,” said Shiva Prasad Upadhyay, one of the detainees who hails from Tanahun district. He said his group was apprehended as the ship they had boarded on Omani shore failed to start. The other detainees were identified as Keshu Damai of Syangja, Ekraj Luitel of Jhapa, Bishal Thapa of Sindhuli and Surya Tamang, Laxman Ghale and Rishtam Ghale of Lamjung. Thapa was the first person arrested; he has already returned home after completing his jail term. A court in Oman had ordered the arrestees to pay a fine of 300 OMR (equivalent to NRs 67,000). “They were sentenced to jail after they failed to pay the fine,” said Dipak Shrestha, an officer who looks after Omani affairs from the Saudi Arabiabased Nepali embassy. Upadhyay said they were lured into the idea of entering Greece illegally as two Nepalis, who had worked with him in Dubai, had entered Greece via the same route.

Seven Nepalis, who had been working in Dubai, were headed for Greece without travel permits. They were held before they could make past Oman

Published on: 1 April 2013 | The Kathmandu Post