Kathmandu, January 30

Members of trade unions, civil society organisations, and recruitment agencies have expressed concerns over reports of agents swindling people in the name of foreign employment, people being charged large sums of money by recruitment agencies, and violation of migrant rights abroad, among other issues.

Speaking at a discussion programme on the topic of migrant workers, the role of recruitment agencies and work done by civil society organisations, trade unions, and under the recruitment advisory website, Binod Shrestha, president of General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) stressed on the need for coordination and collaboration between the stakeholders concerned to resolve issues faced by migrant workers, adding that the government bodies have fallen short in their to efforts to facilitate and ensure proper services and safety to people going abroad for foreign employment.

'We have been raising the issues related to foreign employment and problems faced by foreign workers as well as recruitment agencies. Nowadays, people are also being scammed and deceived in the name of foreign study opportunities and employment in Europe. We must also call on the government to hold talks related to the G2G agreement with other countries like Malaysia to prioritise the safety of Nepali workers as well as approval of employment permits.

There is a need to review the contracts given to Nepali workers and to confirm they are receiving the facilities and salary as mentioned in the contracts,' he said.

Furthermore, Shrestha underscored the need for effective collaboration between stakeholders and bodies concerned to address the problems faced by migrant workers and expressed his belief that such discussions will assist in the problem-solving process of the nation and its people.

Hari Bahadur Thapa, chairman of Nepal Network for Safe Migration (NNSM), shared that the organisation has been mainly focused on educating and spreading awareness related to foreign employment and is coordinating for effective formulation and implementation of laws and regulations in favour of foreign workers' family members.

Stating that the involvement of sub-agents is still widespread for young foreign job-seekers, Thapa stressed the need to conduct a study and find out if such unseen practices have triggered further malpractices in the sector.

He also pointed out that although there is an employer pay model while recruiting migrant workers from Nepal, many youths have been found to pay Rs 200,000 to go to Malaysia.

'I think such practices of charging high sums of money for foreign employment have earned the manpower agencies in the country a bad name. Such practices should be ended in coordination between the government and the employment agencies.

There is no other option to finding the solution to the problems through collective efforts,' he said.

Rajendra Bhandari, chairman of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA), also pointed out the need to ensure proper management of manpower agencies and establish transparency in the recruitment process to provide smooth service to people.

Furthermore, talking about the recruitment advisory website on the occasion, Sunil Neupane, coordinator for South Asia for recruitment advisory programme, shared that the website was launched in 2017 to assist people going abroad for employment purposes to find, review, and rate genuine recruitment agencies in the country as well as provide laws and regulation of one's destination country. The website was developed for people to find the right manpower agency as well as to promote ethical agencies and create a safe environment for both stakeholders.

'The website has listed 979 recruitment agencies in the country and has received feedback from over 2,244 people, which is growing daily.

Such websites can help people going abroad for employment, recruitment agencies, and former migrant workers,' he said A review done on the website by International Trade Union Confederation (ITCU) through 1,593 inputs from Nepali foreign workers showed that 40 per cent of the migrant workers had gone abroad with the help of an agent, while 32 per cent had visited a manpower agency. Similarly, 98 per cent of them had paid an average of Rs 100,000 to receive job opportunities abroad. Ninety-six per cent had their passport withheld by their employer.

The review also showed that 30 per cent of the workers will choose the same agency to apply for jobs abroad while 26 per cent were positive about working with their former employer again. The review also highlighted that just four per cent of migrant workers knew about the presence of trade unions in their working country.

A version of this article appears in the print on January 31, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.