Under the revised agreement, the two governments intend to offer following benefits to Nepali migrant workers travelling to UAE:

• Hiring at no cost
• Employers will bear the expenses related to two-way air travel, visa, recruitment services, health check-up, accommodation and security screening
• Employers will process the payments via banking channel by the 10^th day of every month
• Nepal Labor Ministry has developed a ‘wage protection system’ that will be monitored by a new committee to be setup
• A new medical and work insurance system to take care of employees’ general medical expenses, death and accident, among other issues, along with equal treatment in insurance and security cover
• Special provision for housemaids very soon, supporting Nepali women migrant workers
• Employees can leave without no-objection letter from the employer

 “If the employer firms do not pay the wages by the 10th day of the month, the joint mechanism will take action against the erring firms,” says Ram Prasad Ghimire, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security.

Ghimire and UAE Foreign Relation Director Abdullah Al Nuaimi signed the final draft of the discussion in a recent meeting.

The labor agreement with UAE is expected to be signed within May 2019. Its implementation will replace the existing labor agreement signed in 2007.

According to Ghimire, the government is also planning to new labor agreements with Qatar and Oman very soon.

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In a recent move, the Qatar Government said its new facility in Nepal will bear all the test and contract related expenses of Nepali migrants.

Qatar said this as a response to the widespread rumors about the failures in the labor agreement it had signed with Nepal.

Nepal Foreign Ministry (MoFA) informed that the Qatar Government has sent a letter on April 7, 2019 to Nepal Government confirming about the establishment of its visa center in Nepal.

In the letter, the Qatar Government said this decision will relieve the Nepali migrants from paying additional budgets.

“Charge will be borne by the employer and the worker will not have to pay any amount as fees to the center,” the letter read according to MoFA.

Despite the letter, the visa center establishment is getting delayed due to some objections raised by the Labor Ministry on the issue of additional expenses.

The latest announcement is in line with the Nepal Government’s ‘Free Visa Free Ticket’ Scheme.

Stay tuned for new updates on ‘Nepali migrants expenses waive off’ and Nepali migrants to Qatar!

The post Qatar Announces Visa Center in Nepal, Promises of Bearing Migrants’ Expenses appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

The US Embassy Consul Mike Mussi and the Director General of Immigration Eshor Poudel gave away the first set of five-year, multiple-entry tourist visas to US travellers to Nepal, the US Embassy in Kathmandu informed in a release.

The United States Government has been extending similar services to Nepali travellers since many years. Nepal, with its latest decision, is following the similar visa terms for American visitors.

“Longer visa validity and lowered costs are good for both America and Nepal.  It will increase economic activity and exchanges between our countries,” Mussi said in a statement.

“Visa reciprocity is a standard and long-standing principle in visa policies worldwide. The United States Government and the Government of Nepal have been working towards establishing reciprocity for all types of visas since October 2017,” reads an official release.

This decision, which brings parity in the visa regimes of two countries, is expected to increase the pace of Americans’ tourism and business exchange visits to Nepal, thus benefiting Nepali economy.

“Similarly, American students and scholars are eager to study and conduct research in Nepal. Parity in our visa regimes means that more Americans will have the opportunity to study and research at Nepali academic institutions and participate in educational and cultural exchanges,” the release added.

The decision is also expected to offer significant benefits to certain categories of Nepali visa applicants.

According to the release, the decision will also benefit Nepali students planning educational career in the US by saving them USD 200 on each visa (more than 50 per cent savings) through the elimination of student visa issuance fees.

While tourism makes up major chunk of earnings for Nepal, US has been making a significant contribution to Nepal tourism with 90,000 US visitors to Nepal reported last year, a 15 percent rise over 2017 numbers.

Hope the new decision will benefit US and Nepal in all ways alongside benefits bilateral cooperation between the two nations.

Also Read

• How to Apply for a Nepal Business Visa?

The post Nepal Announces Multiple-Entry Visas to US Citizens appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

The Ministry of Labor Employment and Social Security has officially launched a call center facility on April 01, 2019!

The new facility allows migrants (at home and abroad) to express their difficulties, seek legal assistance and also lodge complaints on any kind of misconduct such as exploitation, frauds, etc.

Migrants can share their concerns through phone, email or social media applications such as Viber, WhatsApp and IMO, among others.

All complaints received at the call center will be forwarded to concerned authorities for further procedures.

The concerns can be reported on toll-free number ‘1141’ or 16600150005 or on mobile number 9771597008.

Earlier in 2017, the then Labor Minister Farmullah Mansoor had also launched a similar help desk system to assist Nepali migrants.

The new system in place aims to address migrant workers’ concerns that resulted out of poor inspection and monitoring mechanism by the related agencies.

In 2018, around 2,129 migrants had officially registered complaints against fraudulent acts by manpower agencies and agents, who had reportedly demanded more than NPR 1.5 billion in refund.

More such have gone unreported and unaddressed adding to Nepali migrants’ concerns. Hope the new call center facility will address the growing menace.

The post Nepal Introduces ‘Call Center’ for Migrants’ Concerns appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

According to the Department of Immigration (DoI) rules, any foreign citizen will have to renew tourist visa within 150 days grace period. Failing to do so will subject them to deportation by the Nepal Government.

The offender will also have to pay a fine of USD 3 per day along with additional fine of NPR 50,000. The offenders registered so far belong to more than 24 countries, says DoI.

Some of them were found working without employment permits and some engaged in religious conversion.

According to DoI, thousands of Chinese and Bangladeshi nationals were suspected of living illegally.

Towards this end, immigration authorities are working with the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, district administration offices, police and tourism entrepreneurs to monitor the activity of foreigners visiting Nepal.

To address the growing illegal activity by foreigners, the Foreign Nationals Monitoring Directives has recently called for central-level monitoring and regulation committee led by DoI Director General and special committee at the district-level.

Besides, DoI is also working on establishment of the state-of-the-art desks with biometric and IRIS recognition technology at Tribhuvan International Airport, to keep track of foreign tourists arriving and departing from the country.

Hope the new system will help the Nepali authorities keep a close watch on foreign nationals visiting Nepal and avoid their misdeeds while living in the country.

The post Nepal Deports 54 Foreign Tourists in 3 Months appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

The issue is in opposition to Trump Government’s decision to terminate TPS designation for the two countries.

The protestors argue that the decision was against the constitutional provisions and is deeply hurting the immigrants’ sentiments.

Towards this end, some local organizations supporting the move have reportedly filed a lawsuit at the Northern District of California on February 11, 2019.

This suit was made on behalf of nine plaintiffs including 3 Nepalis, 3 Hondurans and 3 children (1 Nepali and 2 Honduran), born in the United States.

They argue that the new decision was against the US citizenship laws, which considers any children born in US as a ‘US citizenship’.

The suit names US Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, Deputy Secretary Elaine C Duke, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the United States of America as co-defendants.

“DHS (under previous administrations) regularly considered all of the conditions in that country, including the impact of natural disasters and social or economic crises that occurred after the country’s original TPS designation. But after President Trump took office, DHS-without any formal announcement or other explanation and without acknowledging any departure from past practice -adopted a new interpretation,” reads the preliminary complaint.

Advocates supporting the cause argue that ‘by doing do, the Trump Government has literally ignored the present conditions of the respective countries.’

“There’s a lot of evidence that the conditions are still bad [in Nepal], but the US Government ignored a lot of these evidence that would have supported renewal of TPS for Nepal,” says Laboni Hoq, Litigations Director at Asian Americans Advancing Justice, one of the civil rights organizations in supporting the cause.

On-ground Assessment Lacks

The suit reportedly speaks about the Trump administration’s acts towards termination of Nepal’s status without prior on-ground assessment of the situation.

“It’s not that Nepal is not recovering, it is. But we still need time,” says Prathana Gurung from a NY-based advocacy organization called ‘Adhikaar’, which has been the active supporter of TPS extension for Nepal.

Gurung further says that “the terminations of TPS designation of nearly every single country that have come up for renewal is not a mere coincidence.”

“It’s part of a broader effort to remove immigrants and systematically eliminate the program,” he adds.

“Ultimately, we want to be able to win permanent residency for all TPS holders, not just Nepalis. And that can only be done through legislation which can take time,” says Gurung.

The row was based on the statements of the DHS Secretary Kirstjen M Nielsen, who in 2017, said, “…the disruption of living conditions in Nepal from the April 2015 earthquake and subsequent aftershocks that served as the basis for its TPS designation have decreased to a degree that they should no longer be regarded as substantial.”

Nepal was granted TPS firstly on June 24, 2015 post the earthquake event that shook the country’s landscape, majorly the hilly areas. As the reports say, this decision has benefited around 15,000 Nepalis giving them access to live and work in US as ‘immigrants’, regardless of prior status.

Will have to wait and watch to understand where the issue heads!

Related:

• Nepalese Immigrants Face Hardships in the US

The post Nepalis Fight for Temporary Protected Status in US appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

The survey carried out on Nepali migrant labor in Malaysia and Nepal concluded that almost two-thirds of survey respondents had to pay high and illegal recruitment fees to the recruitment agencies for foreign employment.

88% of the respondents in mobile phone survey of 414 Nepali migrant workers reported payment of fees to agents for overseas jobs. “Because these fees are so high, the majority had to borrow more than half the sum from village moneylenders, placing them in debt,” the report noted.

To meet such high demands of the middlemen, many workers are finding no way other than limiting themselves to low-paid jobs or remain exploited to clear their debts.

“Workers’ calculations about how they will repay these loans are often derailed by unpaid wages or other forms of labor exploitation,” concluded the report.

More than 53 percent of the surveyed reported lower monthly salaries than what was promised by the recruitment agents.

A Special Case

Such situation was reportedly found in case of Nepali migrant labor in Qatar working for the construction of stadiums for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Nepali migrant workers to Qatar working in the project are reportedly facing vicious cycle of debt and exploitation, the report noted.

Nepali labor working in Qatar are facing exploitation

This report comes as an additional pressure to FIFA that has been facing internal pressure from its advisory board with regard to Kafala System, a mechanism used in Gulf countries to monitor migrant labor and is often termed as ‘modern-day slavery’.

“Companies who employ migrant workers in the Gulf and Malaysia directly or through their suppliers or subcontractors also have a responsibility. They need to take steps to prevent exploitative labor recruitment,” said AI in its release.

AI further urged the concerned companies to ensure migrants, who have paid recruitment fees, are reimbursed. “Until they take action, they are reinforcing the debt trap that is destroying so many lives in Nepal,” the release added.

Weak Enforcement Laws

Stating that “Nepali migrant workers are being systematically and mercilessly set up,” the Deputy Director of AI’s Global Issues Program James Lynch noted that weak enforcement of relevant laws by the Nepali Government is resulting in this situation.

“Migrant workers all too often end up trapped in the soul-destroying situation of working abroad for years simply to pay off the huge, often illegal fees they were charged to take the job,” James added.

“Nepali Government’s failure to crack down on recruitment agencies, which charge illegal fees for jobs abroad, is leaving migrant workers trapped in a vicious cycle of debt and exploitation,” the report concluded.

This situation is seen despite the presence of governmental policies like ‘Free Visa, Free Ticket’ introduced in July 2015, and only 20% of the surveyed reported proper implementation of the same.

Deep Exploitation

After an analysis and review of 100 Nepali recruitment websites, AI found that that Nepali labor are being advertised as ‘loyal and completely dedicated to work even in adverse situations’.

“Disturbingly, some of these recruiters – who trap workers into bonded labor by saddling them with huge debts – market Nepali workers to prospective foreign clients by highlighting how unlikely they are to leave their jobs,” highlighted the report.

Matter of Urgency

Nepal is working with other labor-sending nations to address migrant workers concerns

Terming this as a matter of urgency, James Lynch urged the Nepali government and businesses to take necessary measures and control corruption in the Nepali recruitment industry to protect migrant workers.

“A good start would be to penalize recruitment agencies that are not complying with the law. Until companies take action, they are reinforcing the debt trap that is destroying so many lives in Nepal,” he added.

In line with the report, Bhuban K.C., a senior official in Nepali Labor Ministry, has reportedly informed that Nepal is working with other labor-sending nations like India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka towards necessary measures to protect migrant workers’ interests.

“We are raising our voice internationally to ensure that migrants are not cheated,” said Bhuban while also informing that the concerned authorities are offering compensations to the victims.

The post Nepali Migrant Workers in Vicious Cycle of Debt and Exploitation appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

In a meeting with the Bahraini Minister for Labor and Social Development Jameel Bin Mohamed Ali Hamaidan, the Nepali Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain Padam Sundas proposed updating of the existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two countries on Labor Issue 2008.

Padam Sundas also called for formation of the Joint Technical Committee with Bahrain in this regard.

In a positive response to the proposal, the Bahraini Minister highlighted the need for revision of the proposed MoU in line with new provisions.

With regard to labor mobility and related provisions, the Minister said Bahrain is always committed to safeguarding of labor rights.

Bahrain tries to be a model in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to fight any kind of discriminations, the Minister added.

The Nepali Ambassador also thanked the Government of Bahrain for is cooperation and support to Nepali nationals.

Khaga Raj Pandeya, Deputy Chief of the Nepali Mission in Bahrain, was also present at the meeting.

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As a measure towards strengthening the rights and welfare of expatriates, Qatar on November 16, 2017 announced QAR 750 as a basic wage limit for all the expatriates working in the kingdom.

Surprisingly, the new basic is QAR 150 less than the minimum wage limit of QAR 900 set by the Nepali Government in 2013 for Nepalis working in Gulf countries.

On January 21, 2013, Nepal announced a provision suggesting QAR 900 as a minimum wage for its unskilled labor working in Qatar, along with QAR 1,100 and QAR 1,500 for semi-skilled and skilled labor, respectively.

The provision also requires the employers to ensure free board allowance up to QAR 300 per worker along with QAR 4,700 as food allowance for professionals.

A Bitter Response

While the international bodies like the International Labor Organization appreciate the move, the decision is sounding bitter for Nepal and a few human rights activists.

“Let’s not forget that this is an 18 percent reduction in wages from the current minimum wage set by the Nepali Government for Nepali workers going to Qatar,” tweeted Catherine Chen, a human rights activist working for a US-based charity called Humanity United, in response to the announcement by the Qatari Labor Ministry.

Kumud Khanal, former Vice-President of the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Association (NAFEA) says, “Nepal should endorse QAR 750 or stop sending workers until Qatar agrees to abide by its minimum wage standard. The different policies of the labor-receiving and labor-sending nations will only complicate matters.”

According to Khanal, two such different rules would increase the use of fake work contracts.

Ganesh Gurung, a migration expert, also feels that the decisions like this would hamper the workers’ overall demand.

Nepali Government officials informed that they would discuss the issue with the Qatari higher officials maintaining Nepal’s firm stand.

Workers Worry

Following the announcement, the Nepali labor community in Qatar is worried that the new rule might impact their basic rights causing abuse and exploitation concerns.

“There is a danger that QAR 750 will be the new normal and even companies which were paying 900 riyals will now refuse to pay more than the new minimum,” says Krishna Pun, a security guard in Qatar.

Pun, who is currently drawing around QAR 1,800, fears that his company would cut his pay. Many other workers feel the same, he adds. 

Future Impact

While Nepal has similar wage limits for countries such as Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia, Qatar is one of the key destinations hosting around 400,000 Nepali migrant labor.

However, the new wage limit will most likely add to the financial burden of the Nepali workers in Qatar, thus creating a concern for Nepalis’ immigration to Qatar.

Many Nepali workers pay high service charges to recruitment agents and the situation is almost similar in case of workers from India, Pakistan, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

According to Amnesty International, workers pay as much as 60 percent interest on the loans they take from local moneylenders for foreign employment.

Even though countries such as Israel, South Korea and Malaysia have their own minimum wage limits, the basic wages in Qatar is less compared to other foreign destinations such as Bahrain, Malaysia, Kuwait and Oman.

This situation in Qatar exists despite the high demand for work that unskilled workers do there.

Its noteworthy that Qatar is hosting the 2022 football World Cup with most of the labor it has for construction activity are from Nepal and Bangladesh.

The post Nepali Migrant Labor: Revised Wage Limit Worries Nepalis in Qatar appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

“As per the provision of the bilateral agreement, both countries will form the technical committee. The committee will play a major role to implement BLA and protect Nepali migrant workers in Jordan,” says Bhuwan Kumar Acharya, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MoLE) Nepal.

According to Acharya, Joint Secretaries of both the countries will lead the technical committee and form base for successful implementation of BLA.

As per the agreement, the joint committee will form another special committee to address the disputes between workers and the company they are working in and to provide security to Nepali migrant workers during their job tenure.

Free Visa and Ticket Under BLA

The Labor and Employment Minister of Nepal Farmullha Mansur and his Jordanian counterpart Ali Ghezawi signed BLA in Kathmandu on October 18, 2017.

BLA ensures free visa and ticket for the Nepali migrant workers working/moving to work in Jordan for employment.

Nepali migrants are already enjoying similar services in case of foreign destinations such as Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Malaysia and Oman, and Jordan is joined the list with BLA.

Under BLA, both the governments have also agreed to select migrant workers without subjecting them to any cost burden, issue authentic contract paper and provide full insurance during the contract period along with a minimum salary.

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