Malaysia, which was the top destination country for Nepali migrant workers for the last four years, has slipped to third position. Qatar has now climbed to number one position followed by Saudi Arabia.

 

According to the figures provided by the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), a total of 25,635 Malaysia-bound migrant workers have been issued work permits from the DoFE in the last four months (between mid-July and mid-November). Likewise, Qatar has been top destination for the last two months while Saudi Arabia had claimed the top destination country status in the preceding two months. Altogether 41,383 and 42152 work permits were issued for Qatar and Saudi Arabia respectively.

 

Authorities say that an effective implementation of free visa and free ticket system has directly impacted the old recruitment process by bringing about positive changes to the recruitment process. They opined that the role of 'brokers' has become less significant after the implementation of the new system.

 

"The demand for migrant workers has decreased after the implementation of free visa and free ticket system as recruitment agencies are not able to offer commissions to the agents in Malaysia," said Tika Bhandari, chief of Qatar section at DoFE. "Whereas Qatar has been providing Nepali migrant workers free-visa and free tickets for more than 10 years."

 

Bhandari further clarified that earlier, recruiting agencies used to charge huge amounts as fees to migrant workers.

 

Ministry of Labor and Employment (MoLE) implemented a free visa and free ticket system for Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabai, UAE, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain from July 6. Under the new system, an aspiring migrant worker has to pay up to Rs 17,000 that includes medical tests, insurance, a welfare deposit at the Foreign Employment Promotion Board (FEPB) and service charge of the recruiting agencies.

 

In August, a government delegation had visited Malaysia and during the visit Nepal had been assured by Malaysian officials that migrant workers would be provided free visa and free tickets. Nepal government had even mulled ousting 'brokers' from the Malaysia recruitment process.

 

On the other hand, experts say that the devaluation of Malaysian ringgit against US dollar is another major factor that has contributed to the decrease in the number of Nepali workers to Malaysia. More than 900,000 Nepali migrant workers are currently working in Malaysia.