Various stakeholders have stressed on the need of bringing a legal provision that ensures citizenship to babies of female migrant workers. Stating that lack of such a provision in the country is barring children´s fundamental rights including right to education, they have urged the government to amend the existing Foreign Employment Act 2064 to guarantee right to citizenship from mother´s name. 

“The Foreign Employment Act 2064 should address the issues of female migrant workers in a bid to ensure women´s rights. They should be allowed to acquire citizenship to their children if they return home pregnant,” said advocate Nisha Baniya. She added that the provision of citizenship from mother´s name in the upcoming constitution will help pregnant migrants workers to provide citizenship to her child without any impediment. 

During a consultation program on ´Amendment of Foreign Employment Act and Concerns of Civil Society´ organized by People Forum for Human Rights (People Forum) in the capital on Friday, various stakeholders shared that introducing such a provision will provide justice to women in case they have been sexually victimized or raped.

Likewise, implementing compulsory receipt to the aspirant migrant workers was another prioritized area of the consultation meeting. Participants have raised the issue of decentralization of foreign employment services. 

Som Luitel, president of the People Forum, said that the employment contract is one of the major problems in foreign employment sector. “The government should make the employer contract transparent which will help to minimize the risks involved in migration.” 

He also opined that the government needs to sign migrant-friendly Memorandum of Understanding with all destination countries. “The amended act should make MoU mandatory with the destination countries and also make the signed MoU migrant-friendly.”

Luitel also stressed on the need of minimizing the cost involved in recruitment procedure. The government has also been planning to make the recruitment cost zero by signing MoU with different destination countries. 

Likewise, compensation and punishment, role of Foreign Employment Board, monitoring of manpower agencies and agents, and role of embassies and labor attaches in destination countries are other areas discussed for amendment to the act. 

Addressing the program, Executive Director of Foreign Employment Promotion Board (FEPB) Raghu Raj Kaphle said the role of the FEPB should be clearly defined in the act. “Either the FEPB should be scrapped or should be made autonomous,” Kaphle said. 

Earlier the government has formed a committee to amend the Foreign Employment Act 2064. The government is doing necessary consultation with the stakeholders to amend the act at the earliest.

Published on: 30 August 2014 | Republica