KATHMANDU: Nepali migrant workers can access Nepali missions in the foreign land without any hassles as long as they have their proper legal documents in order and at hand.

“As long as migrant workers have their passports, visas and legal employment contract papers with them they will receive any kind of help if they face a problem in a foreign country,” said Hameed Ansari, Nepal’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

According to Ansari, ninety-eight per cent of the problems faced by Nepali migrant workers especially in Saudi Arabia germinate in their country of origin itself. “Poverty and unemployment in Nepal leads people to leave the country and search for greener pastures in foreign lands and this problem cannot be curtailed for a long time to come,” he said adding that they are trying their best to din into the workers that if they have proper orientation about the culture, working environment and language of the destination country it will be easier for them to tackle any problem there.

He added that Nepali workers facing problems in Saudi Arabia are very few in number. Nepal is a labour source country for foreign countries and the credibility of Nepali labourers in the Middle East is high.

“The credibility of Nepalese workers in Saudi Arabia is very high and the demand for them is also high, but people going through illegal channels are the ones facing problems. Even if they seek help from the Nepali mission, there is nothing much anyone can do if they do not have the proper documents,” said Khadga Dahal, an official at the Nepali Embassy there. Women migrant workers are of major concern to organisations in Nepal. Also, according to embassy authorities in Saudi Arabia, they are always given preferential treatment and are well taken care of if they seek help from the embassy.

“We try our best to protect the women who come to seek help from the embassy. There have been several instances when pregnant women came seeking help and we did all that we could for them,” added Dahal.

According to Dahal foreign women and men face no restrictions as far as job opportunities in Saudi Arabia are concerned. He reiterated that before seeking employment abroad proper orientation needs to be dispensed and proper documents must be put in order.