The number of Nepalis leaving for foreign employment declined in the first month (mid-July to mid-August) of the current fiscal year 2015-16. The Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) said that the number of workers who left for jobs with the help of foreign employment agencies went down by 7.92 per cent.

 

A total of 34,502 individuals, including 1,397 females, took work permits from DoFE during the review period, against the issuance of 37,471 permits, including 1,177 for females, in the same period last year, according to DoFE. The number of workers does not include workers who left for foreign employment through their personal approach.

 

The decline has been attributed to the free visa and air ticket provision implemented for workers leaving for seven major labour destinations, protest of manpower agencies, and the consequence of the earthquakes in April and May. On July 6, despite reservation from manpower agencies, the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE) had implemented the free visa and ticket provision for those who wish to work in Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the

United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman.

 

The MoLE move was targeted to help foreign employment aspirants migrate for work at a maximum expense of Rs 10,000, down from as high as Rs 70,000 being charged by agencies earlier. However, manpower agencies have been claiming that the provision would cut the workers’ quota being sent to Nepal and affect the foreign employment sector.

 

Manpower agencies had launched a protest by closing their offices against the free visa and ticket system which lasted for 18 days and they had returned to work after signing a 31-point deal to implement the provision. Manpower agencies had agreed to send workers under the free visa and ticket after the MoLE agreed to conduct a study whereby it would also explore how the new provision would benefit manpower agencies.

 

Only a few manpower companies are bringing demands to send workers through free visa and ticket system, according to DoFE officials. “Most of the workers who left the country during the first month were those who were in the process to leave the country before July 6,” said an official at DoFE. Implementation of free visa and ticket provision is likely to reduce the number of workers leaving the country, as the new provision requires employers to bear the cost of air ticket, visa and commission for Nepali agencies supplying workers.

 

During the review period, number of workers departing to Malaysia, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman declined. A total of 9,561 individuals left for Malaysia, the major labour market and it is a decline by more than 50 per cent as compared to 19,773 in the same period of last fiscal year 2014-15. Whereas, the number of workers who left for Saudi Arabia and Qatar has gone up by 80 per cent and 21 per cent, respectively.