Worrying Issue Of Foreign Employment

Two youths, aspiring to go to South Korea as migrant workers, died in a police firing last Friday, bringing to our attention the pathetic condition of the foreign employment system in the country. Had the responsible authorities acted wisely and honestly, the two Nepali youngsters, each hailing from Accham and Dailekh districts, would not have died. While the police personnel deployed to maintain order were guilty of resorting to unnecessarily excessive force, the Employment Permission Service (EPS) Office failed to act in time to quell the rising tension of youths gathered in and around its office in Lalitpur, which resulted in the deaths of two aspirant workers and the torching of a minister’s vehicle.

The incident compelled the government to take prompt action against the culprits, which included the Lalitpur Chief District Office, the police head who ordered the firing, and the EPS chief, who was guilty of worsening the situation by making contradictory statements over the past few weeks. A high-level committee to investigate the death has also been formed. It promptly provided one million rupees in compensation to the families of each of the two deceased youths. But these acts from the government appear to be too little for the families who have lost their sons for no fault of their own.

Unethical practices

In the case of EPS failure, which led to Friday’s event, the office had not allowed several aspirants, who had successfully passed the language examination to work in the South Korean shipyards, to appear in another examination, which would make them eligible to work in agriculture and other production sectors. But the EPS office denied their request, resulting in the angry outbursts of the youths on Friday. After the incident, the office had now allowed all of them to appear in the examination. This further shows how unwise and irresponsible our authorities are. In the meantime, reports accuse the EPS office and many of its employees of being involved in unethical and inappropriate acts of charging higher fees and ticket prices to Nepali youths who become eligible to fly to Korea as workers.

Friday's incident, which grabbed the attention of the nation, is a grim reminder that the country’s foreign employment sector is hewn with several forms of anomalies. Several members of such responsible authorities, expected to manage the sector, are often found involved in unethical practices. Besides Nepalis willing to go to Korea, other migrant workers visiting the Gulf countries, Malaysia, and many other nations fall victim to greedy manpower companies as well as officials of the foreign management and immigration offices. Nepalis willing to enter the USA, Canada, and European nations are often taken for a ride and are taken on long and windy routes. Many of them face obstacles, and in recent times, several of them have died.

Reports suggest that a strong nexus among the manpower agents, immigration, and other officials is at work. It is quite difficult for authorities to bust such a nexus. With the growth in the number of Nepalis leaving the country, the nexus remains at its place because it has become profitable for them to earn fast bucks.

Youths in Nepal appear to be increasingly willing to leave the country in search of greener pastures. Many want to go abroad to pursue studies in the hope that they will get jobs while continuing their studies. While persons who have not attended higher education desire to go abroad as unskilled, semi-skilled, and skilled labourers. According to a government report, about 110,000 students received no objection letters from the Ministry of Education to study abroad last fiscal year, which, however, does not account for those students who have gone to India to pursue their studies. Nepal’s colleges have now started to see a dwindling number of students. Many colleges have been forced to close due to a lack of students. Various sectors have started witnessing shortages of workers in the country. Besides, many individuals who have already been working in government offices, including doctors and engineers, have now been opting to fly to nations like the USA, Australia, Canada, and the UK, citing that Nepal lacked opportunities for them. According to census data, about 450,000 young Nepalis enter the labour force each year after completing their undergraduate and higher education degrees. Unfortunately, only approximately 15 percent of them find work in Nepal, where they frequently earn the minimum wage. Families are thus forced to send their relatives abroad in pursuit of a better future.

As the lure of foreign employment grows, Nepal’s urban areas and villages have started witnessing an exodus of youth workers. Many families are without youth members, and several villages are without youths. A recent census report tells us that Nepal’s mid-hill districts have shown a reduction in their population, which has forced the government to rethink its development policies for these districts.

Way forward

In the meantime, it is also true that the alarming migration of Nepali youths and work force is likely to continue in the days ahead as developed nations of the world continue to look for work force. The offer of high salaries and a better standard of living will continue to attract our youth. The government authorities cannot stop worrying about the level of migration to countries that promise to provide permanent residential status or a green card, as long as it fails to match the benefits that are provided by rich and developed nations to foreign students and job seekers. 

The situation has indeed put our authorities in a dilemma. However, the authorities can facilitate youths who aspire to go as migrant workers to destinations like Korea, the Gulf, and a few other nations. They should address all the difficulties being faced by these workers, who provide remittances to a country that has indeed worked wonders for our economy in recent times. Meanwhile, it is crucial for our authorities to remain wary of repeating Friday’s incident in any part of the nation. The police force must be asked to exercise maximum restraint while controlling crowds and foreign employment offices, and manpower agents must be closely monitored.

  (Upadhyay is former managing editor of this daily)