Apropos of the sensational news reports, “Panama Papers reveal tax havens of rich, powerful” and “No Nepali mentioned so far” (THT, April 5, Page 1), it seems the tax havens like Panama and British Virgins are for the weak, unscrupulous, crooked and rags-to-riches rather than that for the truly rich, powerful and honest, although 29 Forbes billionaires are reported to be on the list. It will be interesting to see who these 29 Forbes machos are. It does not appear that the real rich like Rupert Murdock and Carlos Slim need the tax havens in Panama and British Virgins to throw a few million dollars. Anyway, British Virgins is reportedly a favourite destination for notorious criminals and drug dealers for parking pure dirty, including blood, money. India’s Indian Express played a sterling role in exposing 500 Indians which include the ‘Sehan Shah’ hero Amitabh Bachchan and his daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai. However, none of the reputed industrial families like Oberois and Tatas have figured in it. Nearer home, no Nepali has been mentioned because we have not really looked into it. It is unlikely that Panamanians even know what Nepal is. It is for our media and our government to work with the Panama government or with Indian Express to check if there are any Nepali names, who could very well be listed as Indians or even Singaporeans in the 11.5 million documents occupying 2,600 GB. Earlier the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) had mentioned that as many as seven Nepalis have parked their money in Swiss banks and British Virgins. But their names never came to the media nor did the ICIJ dared publish their name along with the dirty money. Nepal Rastra Bank should launch its thorough investigation with the help of CIB and Anti Money Laundering Agency.

Manohar Shrestha, Kathmandu

AI report

On April 1, Amnesty International painted a bleak picture of Nepalese migrant workers deployed in constructing a football stadium for the 2022 World Cup to be hosted by Qatar. Qatar is one of the Gulf countries where the highest number of Nepalese labourers is working without minimum facilities from the employers. Still, the condition of Nepalese workers in this part of the world looks to be critical. According to the London-based human rights organization, workers from South Asia, including Nepal, were found to be put on systematic abuse and forced labour. In its 80-page in-depth report, AI stated contractors involved in the World Cup refurbishment of Khalifa International Stadium violated basic human rights of some 100 foreign workersincluding Nepalese by seizing their passports, delaying their salaries and using threats to force them to work. Amnesty International has also pointed that such kind of abuses have to be completely brought to an end as soon as possible. Now time has come for the Nepalese government to do something serious in this case, because the Nepalese workers are dying every day. The government take up this issue with the Qatari government.

Pratik Shrestha, Kathmandu