Roshan Sedhai

The government has temporarily authorised the Nepali embassy in Riyadh to issue labour permits to illegal workers preparing to get legal status under a Saudi Arabian mass amnesty announcement.

The Cabinet has already decided to give the authority exercised by the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) to the embassy to give the illegal Nepali workers a leg up.

“The embassy can exercise the authority of the foreign employment department during this crisis created by the amnesty declaration. The notice will be published in the gazette on Thursday,” said Buddi Bahadur Khadka, spokesperson of the Ministry of Labour and Foreign Employment (MoLE).

Khadka said the workers can also pay their insurance premium and deposit the amount of money in the Foreign Employment Workers Welfare Fund at the embassy. “This means that the workers do not have to return to Nepal to receive work approvals from the DoFE. Such an arrangement will save their time and money.”

Around 25,000 illegal Nepali workers have so far applied for the mass amnesty, which came into effect from May 10 and will last till July 3. However, all of them may not meet the criteria to change their jobs.

An estimated 70,000 male and 50,000 female Nepali are illegally working in Saudi Arabia. Although the amnesty package is also for the female workers, officials at the Nepal mission said not a single woman working in Saudi Arabia illegally have turned up at the embassy.

“Applications for exist visas are high. We cannot say how many will be eligible to correct their status unless the Saudi labour ministry issues acceptance letters. Work permits will be given only after the Saudi department gives ID cards,” said Nepali Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Udaya Raj Pandey.

Pandey said the number of Nepali workers willing to change their status could cross 5,000. “Around 200 people contact the embassy on a daily basis to inquire about the process,” he said.

Under the legalisation scheme, runaway workers holding authentic passports can be legal even if their employers have blacklisted them. For this, they should change their sponsorship through the Labour Office. Domestic workers will be allowed to work legally by changing their sponsors. The Muslim pilgrims who visited the country before July 2003 and those working as housemaids are also eligible to change jobs.

The embassy has obtained around 19,000 passports of runaway workers from the Saudi government submitted by their employers. Around half of them are believed to have returned home in the past when the Saudi government strengthened its deportation campaign.

Following the amnesty announcement, the understaffed mission is in dire need of additional workforce.

Published on: 30 May 2013 | Kathmandu Post