Israel opens market to hire Nepalis

KATHMANDU, August 7

Nepal and Israel have agreed to launch a joint pilot programme to employ Nepali labourers in the Israeli job market.

A pact signed on Friday under the government to government (G2G) initiative for recruitment of caregivers from Nepal to look after disabled elderly employers in Israel has paved the way to send 300 Nepali caregivers to Israel in the pilot phase. In the first batch, 60 workers aged between 25 and 40 will get work permit for five years within two months.

The Centre for International Migration and Integration (CIMI) — an independent non-profit organisation dedicated to assisting Israel in meeting its migration challenges — will send its team on behalf of the Israeli government to Nepal for the selection of the caregivers, according to Tek Bahadur Gurung, state minister for labour and employment.

“CIMI will conduct the required tests of the applicants and the selected workers will be sent to Israel at a low cost.”

Workers will only have to bear the cost of airfare, health test fees and insurance charges and none of them will be charged any service fees. Both male and female workers can apply for the test, which will be conducted by CIMI.

“A total of 60 workers will be sent in the first batch and 240 workers in the second batch within a year under the pilot phase programme, and the facility will be extended further after the assessment of the pilot programme,” said Yaron Mayer, Israeli ambassador to Nepal during the pact signing programme.

The agreement in this regard was signed by Bharat Raj Subedi, director general at the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) and Israeli Ambassador Mayer, on behalf of their respective governments.

As per Subedi, the assessment of the pilot phase programme will be conducted after some time of the workers landing in Israel. “The work performance of the Nepali caregivers will be the determining factor in opening up opportunities for more job-seekers eyeing employment in Israel,” said Subedi.

Israel is the second job market after South Korea that is opening its job market for Nepali workers under G2G initiative. Israel had banned hiring Nepali workers through manpower agencies since 2009 after the anomalies of the recruiting agencies in Israel and Nepali manpower companies surfaced. A joint task force was formed some three years back at the government level to reopen the Israeli job market for Nepali job-seekers.

Even though Israel had stopped hiring workers sent by manpower agencies, many aspirants had been leaving for jobs in Israel though their personal approach obtaining ‘individual work permit’ from DoFE.