Outsourcing agencies have been found to be irresponsible towards clients-migrant workers and have been treating them as goods. Migrant workers are being treated as goods parceled to foreign countries, said director general at the Department of Foreign Employment Purna Chandra Bhattarai, in an interaction on professionalism in foreign employment organised by Nepal Labour Journalist Association today.

Migrants were referred to as `keta' which is an insult to their dignity, he said requesting outsourcers to avoid the term. “Professional dignity cannot be achieved when you defame clients,“ he said, adding that there are several other malpractices that need to be abolished to make foreign employment a dignified business.

“Foreign employment sector lacks entrepreneurship. It has not been ruled by professional ethics,“ he said, urging outsourcers to follow basic business values like respect, quality assurance, proactiveness, responsiveness and punctuality while doing business.

Minister for labour and employment Kumar Belbase said that foreign employment sector is nonprofessional due to lack of strong pressure groups.

“Therefore, government has been taking the lead in reforming the sector. We have achieved significant success in reducing fraud since November and now, we are targeting financial discipline,“ he said.

The foreign employment sector has witnessed 2,172 fraud cases worth Rs 1.35 billion. About 23,500 foreign job aspirants have been affected by the agent network of foreign employment agencies. Similarly, over 1,000 Nepali migrant workers died in foreign destinations due to poor working environment.

Thousands of migrant workers have been cheated regarding salary, leaves and other benefits.Women migrant workers have their own story to tell, said programme coordinator of UN Women Saru Joshi. “About 2,822 Nepali women have been rescued and 82 committed suicide in the last one and a half years,“ she said, adding that the problems are directly associated with irresponsible agents and their false promises.

President of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies Bal Bahadur Tamang pledged to build the sector as a responsible and respectable business. “Changing people's perception of foreign employment agencies will be my task hereafter,“ he said, adding that the association has been cooperating with the department.

Cases drop

Cases of sending workers through illegal channels has reduced by 70 per cent in the last one month as the government has started strict monitoring at the immigration office of Tribhuwan International Airport (TIA).

“Such cases have reduced significantly,“ said minister for labour and employment Kumar Belbase announcing the figure.

The nexus of human traffickers, outsourcing agencies, government officials and police were active at TIA in sending Nepalis abroad for jobs without fulfilling the required criteria. 

Published on: 11 October 2012 | The Himalayan Times