Asha BK, a Constituent Assembly member, was queuing up at the lobby of the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE) at Singha Durbar on Sunday to meet State Minister Tek Bahadur Gurung.

She wanted to seek the state minister´s intervention over a migrant worker from her Bnke constituency who was duped by a manpower recruiting company. 

After hearing the lawmaker out, Gurung immediately instructed one of his personal assistants to help settle the case. Lawmaker BK was accompanied by Karna Bahadur Khatri, the duped migrant worker. He had returned from Malaysia after finding that the job and salary offered by the employer company there was not in line with what the manpower firm here in Nepal had told him. 

BK was not alone among lawmakers to reach MoLE with complaints against manpower firms. There were some other lawmakers also waiting at Gurung´s office to put their complaints to him. They were accompanied by other victims of manpower fraud.

State Minister Gurung told Republica that 15 to 20 lawmakers turn up at his office per day to seek his help in resolving the problems faced by migrant workers. 

"I spent a big part of my time hearing complaints brought here by the lawmakers and most of them relate to cheating and fraud by manpower firms. When a lawmaker comes here with a minor problem, I cannot say no to them," Gurung told Republic. "If the complaints can be resolved simply through a phone call and some negotiations, I help them. Otherwise, I refer them to the respective channels," he added.

Khatri, the fraud victim, told Republica that he chose to seek the help of a lawmaker as the current mechanism for seeking redress is lengthy and cumbersome. 

Khatri related his story thus: I paid more than Rs 138,000 to the manpower firm to go to Malaysia and an offer of 900 ringgit monthly for an eight-hour day. However, what I found there was a nightmare. I was forced to work 18 hours a day for only 600 ringgit and the work also was different from what I was promised. So I returned to Nepal within three months with the support of my family. When I went to the manpower firm and asked them to return my money, the firm operator only humiliated me. Therefore I sought the help of our lawmaker.

"Had I gone through the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) and the other authorities, it would have taken months and cost me a lot of money," he added. One of State Minister Gurung´s personal assistants told Republica that lawmakers come to the ministry seeking his help to settle fraudster cases, get back the bodies of migrant workers who die in foreign countries, demand compensation, rescue migrant workers trapped in harsh working conditions, or send relatives abroad under the free quotas, among other things. The cases of fraud have been on rise in recent months. According to the latest data at DoFE, it received 1,224 complaints as of mid-December, with the total monetary claim amounting to Rs 318 million. DoFE has settled only 275 cases in the review period and recovered Rs 64 million. Likewise, DoFE has filed 275 cases in court while the other cases are still pending at the department.

Published on: 12 January 2015 | Republica