All the government repatriation schemes had excluded undocumented migrant workers, leaving them to languish in Covid-19 hit labour destination countries.

Chandan Kumar Mandal

After months of confusion, the government has finally stepped forward to take care of undocumented Nepali workers in various labour destination countries who have been left out of the Covid-19 pandemic repatriation scheme.

According to Labour, Employment and Social Security Minister Rameshwar Ray Yadav, the government has decided to make arrangments to help undocumented workers return home from the Covid-19 hit countries like Malaysia and the Persian Gulf states.

“The government will ensure that all Nepali migrant workers, be it documented or undocumented, get the support to return home. The Nepal government will bear the repatriation expenses of the workers,” Yadav told the Post. “Not a single Nepali worker should languish in labour destination countries.”

So far the government’s repatriation programme has not prioritised undocumented workers, even though they are the ones who need help the most.

Even when the government came up with a plan to provide financial support to those migrant workers who cannot afford to buy air tickets, the undocumented workers were left out.

The decision to support the workers had come following a Supreme Court order directing the government to use the money from the Foreign Welfare Fund to cover the flight expenses of those workers who had migrated for overseas jobs by seeking labour permits and still had valid permits.

The migrant workers who had reached various labour destination countries through unrecognised channels and those who did not have valid job permits and visas were therefore unqualified to avail the welfare fund to return home.

As per the latest decision of the government, the repatriation cost of undocumented Nepali migrant workers would be covered by the Covid-19 Prevention, Control and Treatment Fund, said Minister Yadav.

While the government has announced to help out the undocumented workers languishing in various labour destination countries, there is no data available on the number of such workers.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will collect such data on undocumented workers from Nepali missions abroad,” said Minister Yadav. “We have also discussed the prospect of increasing the number of daily flights so that more migrant workers can return home.”

On Friday, the Nepal Embassy in Oman rescued and sent back three undocumented women workers who had been in the Gulf state for several years. According to the embassy, a woman migrant worker from Jhapa, who had been out of family contact for the last seven years, was among the three workers who were sent home.

The two other women workers had reached Oman through illegal routes with the help of human traffickers.

According to Bharatmani Pandey, spokesperson for the Ministry of Labour, there has been regular discussions on how the repatriation of undocumented migrant workers could be facilitated.

As per the Labour Ministry statistics, 43,887 migrant workers from Qatar, the United Arab of Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Malaysia and South Korea have returned home until September 3. Likewise, a total of 125,960 Nepali workers have registered to return home in this period.

“The Labour ministry with other concerned ministries are coordinating to speed up the repatriation process which so far has been affected due to limited flights,” said Pandey. “Once the flight numbers are increased, more workers will start coming home.”

Published on: 12 September 2020 | The Kathmandu Post