MPs for forming party's opinion on lifting ban on women workers in the Gulf

Kathmandu, June 13: The lawmakers have said that a party stance needs to be established regarding the issue of lifting the ban on Nepali women workers going for employment in the Gulf countries.

In today's meeting of the Industry and Commerce, and Labor and Consumer Interest Committee under the House of Representatives, committee members stated that the parties still needed to have sufficient internal discussions on this issue.

There was a discussion in the meeting about the possibility of sending Nepali domestic workers for foreign employment to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a country that has a bilateral labour agreement.

In that meeting, Binod Kumar Bhattarai, the Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, urged the committee to approve the advancement of the pilot project regarding the recruitment of Nepali domestic workers in the UAE.

Secretary at the Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Social Security, Krishna Hari Pushkar, said that the ban has not been resolved and proposed to open a legal way for sending domestic workers to the Gulf countries.

He stated that even after the ban on sending female workers to Gulf countries, the issues of forced labor and trafficking risks have not been resolved.

The committee members Hemraj Rai, Ramesh Rijal, and Rama Koirala Paudel expressed the opinion that a party-based opinion should be developed on this matter.

They suggested that the committee can only issue directives to proceed ahead with the pilot project after sufficient discussions with the experts along with the party's position.

Committee member Krishna Kumar Shrestha raised concerns about the costs involved in the recruitment and hiring of Nepali domestic workers.

The committee members discussed the pilot project regarding the recruitment of Nepali domestic workers in the UAE between the Ministry of Human Resources and Immigration of the United Arab Emirates and Nepal's Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security.

The agreement states that the Nepali domestic workers will have to bear the costs of passport fees, qualification certificates, medical tests, recruitment fees, entry visas processing costs, health insurance, workers' safety programme insurance and airfare in that project.

Members of the committee Rukmini Rana Baraili, Mahendra Bahadur Shahi, Rekha Yadav, Suryaman Tamang, Surendra Raj Acharya, and Amrita Devi Agrahari highlighted the plight of Nepali women stranded in various Gulf countries and called attention of the government through the chairperson for their rescue.

The committee members emphasized that the government should pay attention to the family laws of the destination countries while sending domestic workers. (RSS)