Kathmandu, July 21

In a trend that is contradictory to previous years, the number of Nepali job aspirants going abroad dropped by 103,857 or 16.9 per cent in 2018-19.

As per the statistics maintained by the Department of Foreign Employment, the government issued work permits to 508,828 Nepali migrant workers, including renewed work permits, in the last fiscal though the government had issued work permits to 612,685 Nepali workers, including renewed permits, in fiscal 2017-18.

Along with creation of jobs in Nepal, the ‘Malaysia factor’ and a slowdown in the economy of Middle East nations led to decrease in the outflow of Nepali workers in the last fiscal, according to Mahesh Prasad Dahal, secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security.

Nepali workers had stopped going to Malaysia in May last year after the government cracked down on Immigration Security Clearance and One Stop Centre that had been levying additional charges on Nepali migrants. Though the government has been issuing work permits to those Malaysia-bound Nepali migrant workers who have already received their ‘calling visas’, the government is not issuing fresh work permits for Malaysia. As a result, DoFE statistics show that only 42,146 Nepalis were issued work permits to travel to Malaysia in fiscal 2018-19 though the government had issued work permits to 137,311 Nepalis to travel to the Southeast Asian nation in the previous fiscal.

“Along with this, the economy of Middle-East nations, including Qatar, has slowed down, resulting in low demand of workers in those nations,” added Dahal.

Meanwhile, domestic recruiting agencies deny that jobs are being created in the country itself and cited the halt in issuance of work permits to Malaysia-bound workers as the primary reason for the drop in outflow of workers in 2018-19. “Malaysia is one of the major destinations for Nepali migrant workers. As the government has not resumed issuing work permits to Malaysia, the outflow is certain to come down,” said Rohan Gurung, president of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies.

Stating that the government’s failure to resume supply of workers to Malaysia has not only affected workers but will also leave a negative impact on the inflow of remittances and the economy of the country, Gurung urged the government to start sending workers to the Southeast Asian nation as soon as possible.

Though Nepal and Malaysia had inked a bilateral labour pact in October, the government is yet to resume the supply of workers to Malaysia.