Ek Nath Bhujel left for Qatar two years ago after he was hired by a company there to work as a carpenter.

 

Although he was hired by AL'Minhaaj Trading and Contracting CO. for a period of two years, four months after he joined, he was sent to another place against his wish to work as a construction laborer.

 

A local from Udayapur, 44-year-old Bhujel had hoped of returning home with some money at the end of his contract. But nothing of the sort happened.

 

"I worked as a carpenter only for four months although I was hired by the company for two years as per my contract paper. Later, I was forced to work as laborer at a construction site," he shared. "In total, I worked for eight months in Qatar, but received just one month's salary amounting to Rs 29,400."

 

Bhujel filed a case at the labor court of Qatar, but the company managed to get him deported before the final hearing on his case. He said that the company has withheld his seven months' salary and that he has been struggling for almost a year to get it.

 

Two Nepali manpower companies, Link Star and United Recruiting, had sent Bhujel to work as a carpenter after he paid them Rs 90,000.

 

While he has received a refund from those agencies after he came back, Bhujel has so far been unable to get the salary for the eight months he worked in Qatar.

 

But lack of proper litigation and justice mechanism in the country has hindered his efforts to get justice.

 

"I have been to all the possible places demanding justice--Ministry of Foreign Employment, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department of Foreign Employment, and Prime Minister's Office," he said.

 

He has been staying with his friends in Kathmandu, but he is running out of money and worries that he might have to give up the struggle and return to his home town of Udayapur before he gets the justice.

 

"All I am asking for is the money I owe for the hard work I did in a foreign land," Bhujel said.