Altogether 40 Nepali domestic servants are currently languishing in a shelter near the Lebanese capital of Beirut, unable to buy air tickets to return home even as 40 other Nepalis living illegally there also await help for their repatriation.

 

According to the Nepal embassy in Egypt which is concurrently accredited to Lebanon, the 40 Nepali domestics including two males, who are living illegally in Lebanon, are now at a shelter after the Lebanese authorities gave them legal clearance following an intiative taken by the embassy. The Nepal embassy received a letter from the Lebanese Home Ministry on Monday that all legal procedures for the repatriation of the 40 Nepalis were complete. 

 

Charge d´affaires at the embassy Kaushal Kishor Ray said all necessary procedures for the repatriation of 40 out of the 80 domestics have been completed in Lebanon. "Since the freed domestics cannot be kept in the shelter for long, I have requested the [foreign] ministry to send tickets for their repatriation," Roy said, adding that that embassy does not have funds for the air tickets. 

 

Ray said he had contacted the executive director at the Lebanese Foreign Employment Board for availing the air tickets. "But there was no response. As they cannot be kept in the shelter for long, we want the government to send the tickets," he further said. 

 

Ray had been to Lebanon to monitor the situation of Nepalis there. "After learning of their miserable condition, I extended my stay for a few days to issue them with travel documents. We have already submitted to the Lebanese authorities travel documents for 45 Nepalis," Ray said, adding that the embassy is issuing travel documents to the remaining 40 also. 

 

Among those cleared for repatriation, two were in prison, two others were also in detention and four housemaids were at the shelter. The remaining housemaids were hiding for fear of being prosecuted. Those in prison will be sent directly to the airport once the air tickerts have been arranged. 

 

The embassy in Egypt has requested Lebanese immigration authorities to free the remaining 40 illegal Nepalis as well for repatriation. The whereabouts of seven other Nepali housemaids are unknown though their cases are with the Lebanese immigration authorities, according to the Non-Resident Nepalese Association (NRNA) in Lebanon.

Though the government has banned the sending of Nepali housemaids to Lebanon, the practice continues. In 2013 alone, over 700 Nepali housemaids reached Lebanon via New Delhi. 

 

 

Meanwhile, over 400 Nepali housemaids who reached Syria illegally are facing a similar situation, according to the embassy in Egypt.  Charge d´affaires Ray said over 400 Nepalis, who reached there through UAE, Lebanon and India, are living in misery.