Against the backdrop of the government failing to resume issuing work permits to Malaysia-bound Nepali workers, Nepal and Malaysia will hold a meeting on labour migration on September 10 and 11 in Kuala Lumpur.

An official form the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security (MoLESS) informed that the ministry is at present preparing the agendas that will be presented during the joint working group (JWG) meeting.

“The major agenda for discussion during the meeting will be the resumption of labour migration from Nepal to the Southeast Asian nation,” the official added. The official further said the dates for the talks were fixed as per labour agreement between both the countries in October.

The agreement that ensured recruitment of Nepali workers in Malaysia at zero cost has not come into effect owing to the lack of a proper mechanism and structure to facilitate recruiting process.

In this context, Nepal had held a meeting with Malaysian Human Resources Minister M Kulasegaran in Geneva on the sidelines of the International Labour Conference on June 4. During the meeting, officials of both the nations had discussed on how the pending tasks related to the implementation of the pact could be finalised at the earliest.

As per the agreement, both governments had agreed to call a meeting of the JWG to review the progress and plan on future steps to be taken. MoLESS has said that the upcoming meeting will sort out various issues hindering the resumption of supply of labour force from Nepal to Malaysia.

The supply of Nepali workers to Malaysia has been halted since 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 two governments had inked a bilateral labour pact in October, the outflow of Nepali migrant workers to Malaysia is still uncertain following the delay in finalising medical-related issues by both governments.

However, the government recently selected 122 medical institutions for medical check-ups for job-seekers.

Earlier, the manpower agencies had threatened the government to launch protests seeking resumption in issuing work permits to Malaysia-bound migrants.

Published on: 30 August 2019 | The Himalayna Times