High-level interaction to address foreign employment-related problems

By TRN Online, Kathmandu, Sept 11: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' has interacted with the Chief of the Nepali Diplomatic missions abroad focusing on labour immigrants and solving the problems. 

According to the Prime Minister's Private secretariat, chiefs of the Nepali Diplomatic missions from 13 countries have participated in the two-day Interaction programme that started on Monday.

In the interaction, diplomats presented a report regarding the problems of the International labour market and addressing their problems. 

Labour, Employment and Social Security Ministry's Secretary Kebal Prasad Bhandari has presented the concept on 'Issues of Labour immigrants and Role of Diplomatic Missions.'

According to RSS, the presentations highlighted various multi-dimensional aspects of labour migration including the current state of the labour market and migration trends, the significance of remittance and its substantial impact, bilateral labour agreement and understanding, guidelines on foreign employment demand attestation, the provision of shelter and support for migrants, labour permit issue, management of local employees, organizational arrangements and status of labour attachés, E-7 visa (specific activity) for South Korea, provision of Japan's specified skilled workers, and archiving of those labour migrants missing in the official records.    

The presentation also sheds light on relief and rescue operations, as well as charitable efforts, the current status of legal defence mechanisms for labour migrants, labour relations and challenges, issues concerning domestic help and their working conditions, an affiliation of migrants with the Social Security Fund, attestation of specified labour skills, training programs, and language proficiency, maximum consultancy fees for labour migration consultants, official channels for the entry and regulation of remittance flows, travel arrangements facilitated by travel agencies, possibilities for new labour destinations and expansion of the labour market and so on.    

The report has included subjects ranging from issues of domestic workers to the supply of workers as per the agreement between the governments of concerned countries, association with the social security fund, specialised labour, skills, training and test of language, service fees for counselling, bringing in remittance inflow through a formal channel, educational counselling, problems in the process of going for foreign employments, the potential of new labour destination and labour market and expected achievements and results.    

The top 10 destinations for labour immigration for Nepali people are Qatar, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, South Korea, Oman, Japan and Rumania. Similarly, the concept paper has identified various problems facing Nepali migrant workers at foreign jobs and offered alternatives.    

The interaction will discuss an array of subjects ranging from demand letter verification to cheating in foreign employment, problems facing workers at the workplace, human trafficking, problems facing Nepali workers at foreign jobs without proper documentation, the situation and problem of the free visa and free ticket scheme, e-visa, problems of seasonable visa, the effectiveness of diplomatic missions, and the methods to make labour immigration safe, respected and credible.  

Others present on the occasion were Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka, Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Sharad Singh Bhandari, Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Prakash Saud, political advisor to the Prime Minister Haribol Gajurel, Secretary of the government, Ambassador of Nepal to Austria Bharat Gautam,

Ambassador to Oman Dornath Aryal, Ambassador to Germany Ramkaji Khadka, Ambassador to Japan Durga Prasad Subedi, Ambassador to South Korea Jyoti Pyakurel, Ambassador to Malaysia Dilli Raj Paudel and Ambassador to Qatar Naresh Bikram Dhakal.    

Similarly, Ambassador to Bahrain Tirtha Raj Wagle, Ambassador to Pakistan Tapas Adhikari, Ambassador to Kuwait Ghana Shyam Lamsal, Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Tej Bahadur Chhetri and Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Nawaraj Subedi separately tabled their reports on the situation of Nepali migrant workers at foreign jobs and ways to be taken to bring changes in the situation.