Manpower agents attributed the significant decline in the number of overseas migrants to stricter policy by the government to give work permit, increasing number of workers leaving unrecorded via India and cessation of fresh approval by the Saudi government for new workers.

 

Data compiled by the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) showed a total of 124,394 job aspirants flew to international destination during the period between mid-July to mid- November. The number was 156,730 during the corresponding period last fiscal year.

 

“The DoFE has been imposing stricter rules to get foreign job permits for last few months which has discouraged us to send more workers to foreign destination leading to exodus of overseas job seekers via India through clandestine channels,” Kumud Khanal, first vice-president of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA) told Republica on Wednesday.

 

Khanal also said suspension to release new demand approvals for jobs by the Saudi government for the last couple of months also dragged down the number of job seekers compared to last year´s figure. “Workers heading for Saudi are those whose demands were approved before the suspension was put in place,” he added.

 

Out of the total job seekers who headed for international labor markets, 115,174 and 9,220 had managed to get jobs through institutional and individual channel respectively.

Similarly, total number of workers who departed for a foreign job during the review period includes 117,287 male and 7,107 female.

 

During the review period, Malaysia, the most popular destination, received a total of 49,254 and Saudi Arabia-the largest destination, hosted 27,136. Similarly, the number of migrants leaving for Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) stood at 21,225 and 15,768 respectively during the period.

 

The data also showed that the total number of Nepali youths seeking foreign jobs reached 25,617 during mid-October to mid-November, down from 47,176 recorded during the same months last year. 

 

During the month Malaysia and the UAE received 8,619 and 4,687 job aspirants respectively. Similarly, Qatar and Saudi Arabia provided employment to 4,242 and 4,252 Nepalis respectively during the period.