Laxman Parja, en route to Qatar, was struggling to fill out the departure forms at the Tribhuvan International Airport. Fortunately, for the illiterate 27-year old from Chitwan, a fellow educated traveller saw his plight and stepped in to help.

 

Parja is just one of the many illiterate migrant workers leaving everyday for employment overseas through the country’s only international airport. Without proper help desks, most of these workers are often found beseeching fellow travellers for help filling out forms.

 

Although the government has set up a helpdesk at TIA departure, it has been unable to provide the desired level of services. Many workers claim that the helpdesk hasn’t been efficient enough, lacking adequate human resources.

 

However, immigration officials tell a different story. “It is true that many workers are having problems with filling up the departure forms but we have been doing our best to help them, “ said Suresh Adhikari, Director General of the Department of Immigration (DOI)

 

Adhikari said that the Department has recently set up a separate helpdesk for migrant workers to make service more effective. “Sometimes fellow travellers, airline officials and immigration officials help them fill up forms and guide them with the formal procedures. But it is almost impossible to take care of all migrant workers, due to their increasing numbers and our limited manpower,” said Adhikari.

 

The problem is further compounded for migrant workers as they are required to fill out various forms in many categories and submit documentation at immigration. Of late, the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) has made it mandatory for workers to submit around eight documents at airport immigration, including a work permit, visa and company sponsor letter, based on their category of work.

 

Bal Bahadur Tamang, Chairperson of the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies, said that he had volunteered to fill the departure forms of a few workers before heading to Kuwait few weeks ago. “The government has made things more difficult for migrant workers by making it mandatory to submit various unnecessary documents,” said Tamang, claiming that the new regulations are a platform for bribery. He emphasised that the concerned stakeholders need to add human resources and more helpdesks to provide better service to workers and also end the unwanted hassle of submitting many unnecessary documents.