Dang, October 5:

Over a thousand Nepali youths who went to Qatar in search of jobs are languishing in jails there.

Dashain has been dolorous for them and they are pulling along simply on the strength of their remembrance of kith and kin.

Some 1,055 Nepalis are in jails in Qatar, according to the vice-chairperson of the Qatar Nepal Journalists’ Association and general secretary of Pyuthan Qatar Contact Forum, Netra Khanal. He told this daily over telephone that the Nepali Embassy in Qatar has been ignoring the problems of Nepali workers there.

“The current government is behaving like the erstwhile royal government regarding solving problems faced by the Nepalis working abroad,” he said.“When Nepali workers started working illegally in Qatar, they were arrested and kept in jails,” Khanal added. The Qatar Nepal Ekta Samaj has been helping the youths.

Khanal alleged that the Nepali Embassy has not been helping in renewal of passports and has been ignoring the problems of the workers there.

Shivaraj Panthi, a resident of Gadhawa (Dang), who recently reached Qatar in search of a job, said over telephone that foreign employment was like the grass on the other side of the

fence, greener and more attractive. The reality was stark, he added.

“Nepali workers are not careful while going to foreign countries. The kind of work mentioned in the agreement is not actually given to them,” he said.

Panthi added arrangements should be made to send Nepali workers directly to foreign countries through the ministry of labour.

Shuva Bahadur Budamagar, a resident of Aghara in Dang, who is working in Qatar, said he hankered to be at home during Dashain.

He added that while so many others like him were not in jail, they are facing a lot of difficulties in Qatar.