Kathmandu, August 7

The Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE) has sought support from Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in inking the Bilateral Labour Agreement (BLA) with three major working destinations of Nepali migrant workers, as its earlier attempts did not generate any response from destination countries.

The ministry has sent a letter to the MoFA seeking help in signing BLA with Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Oman. Likewise, MoLE has sent a letter to MoFA to write to Qatar for renewal of previous labour agreement, which is going to expire in 2018.

MoLE has again approached the aforementioned three labour destinations through MoFA as its earlier initiatives failed to generate any response.

As per MoLE Secretary Laxman Mainali, the ministry sent a letter to MoFA around two week ago to initiate the process for signing BLA with Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Oman. “Since our earlier attempts did not generate any response from the destination countries, we are trying to approach them again through MoFA.”

Due to the delay in signing the BLA, migrant workers have been facing numerous problems in the destination countries, like not getting their wages on time, the employers seizing their passport and denying them of basic services and facilities, among others.

Although the government allows Nepali migrant workers to seek employment in altogether 108 countries, Nepal has signed the BLA only with Qatar till date.

According to MoLE officials, memorandums of understanding (MoUs) have been signed with Bahrain, Japan, South Korea, Kuwait and Israel. “However the process has not moved forward since signing the MoUs,” sources said, adding most MoUs are set to expire soon.

It is estimated that around 4.52 million Nepalis are working overseas. Many Nepali migrant workers are employed in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE.

Likewise, Oman, Bahrain and Israel are also other top labour destinations for Nepalis.