Devendra Bhattarai

Ram Kumari Bomjan from Rautahat district arrived in New Delhi five months ago with a dream of flying to New Zealand, only to be duped by her agents.

Bomjan, who is staying at Everest Hotel in Paharganj, New Delhi, gave Rs 1.5 million to her agents one year ago. “They are trying to cheat me by producing fake work permit for Hong Kong or telling me that they would send me to Canada instead,” she said.

Bomjan sold her land and borrowed money to pay them. “I cannot go back to my village. Nor can I fly to a foreign country in the lack of documents. My known agents are out of contact,” she rued, adding that she does not have money even to pay the hotel.

About a dozen others are left in the lurch in the Indian Capital after their agents duped them on the pretext of sending them to New Zealand. Of late, India has grown as a transit for sending Nepali foreign job aspirants abroad.

The victims have sought anonymity of the agents fearing that they will be unable to recover the money.

After the government created barriers in the travel of migrant workers to Gulf countries via Indian routes, Nepali workers are being trafficked to countries such as New Zealand, Syria, Uganda, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kenya and Tanzania through Indian routes.

In particular, women are said to be trafficked to Kenya and Tanzania for work at dance bars. More than 300 Nepali women are said to be working in bars and pubs in the countries.

Dozens of complaints of foreign employment fraud have been lodged in the Nepali Embassy in New Delhi, Akhil Bharat Nepali Ekata Manch and Help Nepali Mission in India.

Khaganath Adhikari of the Nepali Embassy said no objection letters from the embassy are required for Nepali workers to go to Gulf countries via India and that they have informed authorities at Indian airports about the matter.

Adhikari, however, said that airport officials, except those based in New Delhi and Mumbai, might not be aware of it, thus letting Nepali workers fly to Gulf countries illegally.

Nepalis are being trafficked to Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda due to the provision of on-arrival visas, said Hikmat Thapa, coordinator of the Non-Resident Nepali Association for Africa.

Nepali Ambassador to South Africa Arun Prasad Dhital stressed the need for Nepali workers to be aware of the rackets trafficking Nepali workers to African countries on tourist visa and leaving them there in the lurch.

Chief Secretary Leela Mani Poudyal recently directed the Department of Foreign Employment to collect the details of Nepalis who are in African countries.

Published on: 14 March 2014 |The Kathmandu Post