Labour migration dips in current fiscal

Kathmandu, January 28

The number of Nepalis leaving the country for foreign employment has declined in the first six months of the ongoing fiscal year compared to the same period in fiscal year 2016-17.

The record maintained by the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) shows that 168,190 Nepalis obtained work permit for different countries like Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and the UAE in between mid-July to mid-January in fiscal 2017-18, whereas 174,951 workers had taken up jobs abroad during the same period last year.

DoFE data shows that the number of Nepali migrant workers going to Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has increased in the review period while the number of migrant Nepalis travelling to Qatar and Saudi Arabia has declined notably.

Mohan Adhikari, information officer at DoFE, informed that more number of Nepalis have been applying for work permits to Malaysia over Qatar and Saudi Arabia these days. “This probably is due to the diplomatic crisis that Qatar is going through since the past few months,” he said.

Different countries including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt had abruptly cut off diplomatic relations with Qatar in June last year by withdrawing ambassadors and imposing trade and travel bans. The Saudi Arabia-led alliance cited Qatar’s alleged support for terrorism and violation of the 2014 agreement with members of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) as the main reasons for its action.

Due to this diplomatic crisis in Qatar, migrant workers including Nepalis have been opting for other countries rather than Qatar for jobs.

Statistics show that the number of Nepali migrant workers taking work permit for Qatar has come down by more than 14,000 during the review period. While 59,122 Nepali migrant workers obtained work permit for Qatar in the first six months of fiscal 2016-17, only 45,115 Nepalis took work permit to work in the Gulf nation in the same period in the ongoing fiscal year.

However, DoFE data shows that the number of Nepali migrant workers travelling to Malaysia has increased notably during this period. A total of 39,342 Nepali migrant workers had taken work permit for

Malaysia in the first six months of 2016-17, which increased to 58,659 migrant Nepalis obtaining work permit for the destination in the same period this year.

The number of migrant workers taking work permit for Saudi Arabia has also declined by 21,201 to 43,566 in the first six months of this fiscal year compared to the same period of the previous fiscal year.

Meanwhile, migrant Nepalis seem to be more interested in working in the UAE as the number of Nepali migrant workers taking work permit for UAE has increased by 5,996 to 26,818 in the first half of 2017-18 compared to the same period of last fiscal.