KATHMANDU: A writ petition has been filed at the Supreme Court against the “Order of the Government of Nepal, 2020”, challenging the provision regarding repatriation of Nepali migrant workers from destination countries at their own cost.

The provision of the Order requiring the migrant workers to bear the cost of airfare and hotel quarantines are inconsistent with the Constitution and governing legislation of Nepal, stated Advocate Barun Ghimire.

The provision in the Order (Paragraph 7(c) and 7(d)) regarding the cost of airfare and hotel quarantines for returnees from third countries and the cost of transportation from holding centres to local quarantine centres for returnees from India to be borne by the returnees themselves contradicts with Section 75(2) of the Foreign Employment Act, 2004 on rescue and repatriation of migrant workers in a situation of disaster and distress, and Sec 33(1) on utilising the foreign employment welfare fund for the purpose of rescue and repatriation.

The writ petition demands that the government bear the cost of rescue and repatriation of the disadvantaged and unemployed workers --  who are not in a position to bear such expenses themselves -- including airfare and hotel quarantines.

The writ application filed by Advocates Barun Ghimire, Prabin Subedi, Anurag Devkota, and Binaya Rimal has been registered and scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Sunday, June 7, 2020.