Yadav Raj Joshi

Outsourcing fraud has become a headache for authorities as more than half the migrant workers have been found to have been duped with false promises. 

About 56 per cent foreign job aspirants have fallen prey to frauds before their departure, a report from Peoples’ Forum — a non-governmental organisation providing legal aid to victims — revealed. People from across the country have been equally affected due to frauds prevalent in the sector, said president of the forum Som Luitel. 

“Since victims have to travel to Kathmandu to file a case, it is costly for them,” he said, adding that the government must, therefore, decentralise the fraud case hearing system. It is an urgent need, he added. 

According to Luitel, the organisation sampled 250 cases from among the 840 cases that the organisation helped provide legal aid to in the last one year. About 15 per cent cases were related to women job aspirants, he said, adding that the number of women who had fallen victim was twice the number that actually went for foreign employment. 

About 357,707 Nepalis joined foreign jobs for the first time in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year and women have a share of 6.20 per cent. Just 22,213 women joined foreign jobs in the period. 

Similarly, janjatis — ethnic minorities — have suffered the most from outsourcing fraud, with 54 per cent share in total cases. Geographically, people from the hills — 60 per cent — suffered the most followed by Tarai —southern plain — (31 per cent) and mountains (nine per cent). Cases against individual agents is 61 per cent and outsourcing agencies is 39 per cent that represents the trend of cases reported in the Department of Foreign Employment. 

However, the department does not have gender wise distribution of registered fraud cases. The department reported around 1,864 fraud cases worth Rs 985.37 million in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year. Among them, 832 fraud cases were committed by registered outsourcing agencies. 

Incidents of fraud by individuals is high in the sector and needs to be cut down, said director general at the department Binod KC. 

“The department is exploring alternatives to decentralise the system but the current political instability has not helped,” he said, adding that the Foreign Employment Act should be amended to provide case hearing rights at the district level. 

The Foreign Employment Tribunal — a semi-judicial authority responsible for hearing outsourcing fraud cases — has also faced difficulty in reaching the grassroots level. 

“There is no provision of power delegation at the local level,” said judge at the tribunal Agni Prasad Thapalia. According to him, the tribunal’s verdicts can only be challenged at the Supreme Court, hence district courts should not be involved in the row. 

The tribunal has settled about 355 outsourcing fraud cases since its inception on February 1, 2010. Currently, it is hearing 379 fraud cases, mostly against individual agents. According to the tribunal, it has heard cases of about 68 women so far.

Published on: 28 May 2013 | The Himalayan Times