Bahrain has pressed the government here to take the initiative to reduce the role of 'mediators' while recruiting Nepali migrant workers.

Stating that many Nepali workers are being duped and overcharged while securing foreign employment, representatives of the government of Bahrain, who are here on a six-day official visit, said controlling such activities and taking legal action against those involved is an urgent matter.

Chief Executive Officer of the Labor Market Regulatory Authority of Bahrain Asman Abdulla Al Awari and members of his team are in Kathmandu to explore Nepali labor for the market in Bahrain.

"They [mediators and manpower agencies] are not doing business in Bahrain, so we are can't punish them due to lack of sufficient evidence," Bishwo Prakash Subedi, section officer at the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), quoted Asman Abdulla Al Awari as saying during a meeting held on Tuesday, adding, "They want our embassy in Bahrain to take a lead in the recruitment process to reduce the role of manpower agencies and mediators."

However, the Bahrain government representatives gave no sign how they feel about government to government (G2G) or public-private partnership (PPP) models for the recruitment process in future.

"We are yet to finalize the recruitment process but Bahrain has assured us that it can open up a labor market for up to 150,000 Nepalis," added Subedi.

During the meeting, Bahrain agreed to initiate steps to provide exit permits to some 350 undocumented Nepali workers, in response to a request by Nepal.

Meanwhile, Nepal has asked the Bahrain representatives to provide online access to individual records, including contract documents and the demands for labor issued to Nepal.

"Nepal has asked the Bahrain government to provide us online access to records on our workers in order to test for authenticity and provide them security," said a source present at the meeting today.

Issues like free visa and tickets, recruiting of skilled and semi-skilled workers, increment in salary and proper training were raised at the meeting.

Nepal has okayed 110 countries for foreign employment but has signed MoUs with only five, including Japan, South Korea, Qatar, UAE and Bahrain.

Nepal is mulling to sign MoUs with Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, which are respectively the first, third and fifth largest destination countries in terms of foreign employment for Nepalis.

Around 3.5 million Nepalis are working overseas, mainly in the Gulf countries, while 1,500 to 1,700 Nepalis leave the country for foreign employment every day. Records at DoFE show that there are more than 38,000 Nepali workers in Bahrain.

Published on: 2 April 2015 | Republica