Fewer Nepalis seeking work permit for Qatar

Kathmandu, June 9

As a result of diplomatic crisis that Qatar underwent recently, Nepali migrant workers seem to have postponed their plans to travel to the Gulf country, at least for now.

This is evident in the declining number of Nepali migrants seeking work permit for Qatar from the Department of Foreign Employment since the diplomatic rift between Qatar and Saudi Arabia-led alliance of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt came to light on Monday.

“Probably due to reports of diplomatic crisis in Qatar, the number of Nepalis seeking work permit for Qatar has dwindled in the past few days,” said Spokesperson for DoFE Mohan Adhikari.

DoFE officials said the department had been issuing work permit to an average of 700 to 800 Nepalis wishing to work in Qatar everyday during normal times. However, the number of Nepalis seeking work permit has slumped after the diplomatic rift in the Gulf.

According to the data of DoFE, the department had issued 653 work permits to Nepalis wishing to travel to Qatar on Monday — the day when the diplomatic rift between Qatar and Saudi Arabia-led alliance made headlines worldwide — as against 712 work permits issued on Sunday. The number of Nepalis seeking work permit to Qatar fell steeply to 262 on Tuesday.

Even as the number rebounded to 726 on Wednesday, it fell to 474 yesterday.

At a glance

Day

Permits issued

Sunday

712

Monday

653

Tuesday

262

Wednesday

726

Thursday

474

 

Source: DoFE

“It seems the diplomatic rift has affected the psychology of Nepali workers. However, based on the updates provided by our embassy in Qatar and other diplomatic channels, Nepali migrant workers have yet to face any problem due to the diplomatic crisis in Qatar,” added Adhikari. He, however, added that it was too early to gauge the impact of Qatar crisis on migrant workers.

Meanwhile, domestic manpower companies, who have been sending Nepali migrant workers to Qatar, also stated that both the sentiment of Nepali migrants and demand of workers from Qatar-based companies seem to have largely remained unaffected due to the crisis in Qatar.

“As it was an unexpected event, Nepali migrant workers who have already received their visa are in the wait-and-see mode to fly to the Arabian country. Otherwise, we have been receiving regular demand of workers from Qatar-based companies and there is no significant change in the number of Nepali migrant workers approaching us for employment in Qatar,” said Bimal Prasad Dhakal, president of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies  — the umbrella organisation of recruiting agencies in Nepal.

Qatar is the top priority destination country for Nepali migrant workers, along with Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. According to DoFE, almost 400,000 documented Nepali migrants are working in Qatar.