The government has resisted Malaysia’s proposal to introduce Bio-Visa arguing that it would add financial burden to Nepali migrant workers.

In a meeting with visiting Malaysian Minister for Home Affairs Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on Wednesday, the Nepali representatives said that the country’s migrant workers cannot afford any additional cost for the pilot project since they are already spending excessive recruitment charges. The Malaysian delegation, however, tried to convince their counterparts maintaining that the system would be useful to regulate migration.

Biometric system is a fingerprint scan with security features to match an individual’s identity with the data recorded in passports. Under the proposed Bio-Visa, workers are required to register using a biometric system at the Malaysian embassy. The system is initiated to control cases of forgery, overstaying and misuse of visas. Nepali State Minister for Labour and Employment Tek Bahadur Gurung requested Hamidi to work on reducing the migratory cost by controlling the exorbitant fee charged by multi-layered local agents in Malaysia. According to government reports, migrant workers currently pay at least Rs 120,000 to go to Malaysia.

Stakeholders in Nepal have been protesting at the Malaysian embassy in Kathmandu against its the hike in visa cost, arguing that the planned Bio-Visa will make migrants suffer in debt as they are already compelled to pay Rs 3,900 just for visa processing, significantly higher from the previous charge of Rs 700 since the process was outsourced to a private firm, VLN Nepal.

According to officials in the meeting, Gurung asked the Malaysian delegation to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to ensure safety and security of Nepali migrant workers. Malaysia, the country’s largest labour destination, has yet not signed any agreement with Nepal. Nepal had sent a preliminary draft of the labour pact to Malaysia a year ago but has not had any response. “Minister Hamidi has assured us that a taskforce would be formed to sign the labour pact,” said Buddhi Bahadur Khadka, spokesperson of the Ministry of Labour and Employment. According to him, the Malaysian government is positive in tackling the existing anomalies and exploring further possibilities in the sector.

In a similar context, the Nepali delegation, concerned with the increasing number of migrant deaths in Malaysia, pressed the visiting team to improve living and working conditions. A total of 341 Nepali migrant workers died in Malaysia in 2013 and 2,373 Nepali have lost their lives there since 2003.

Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA), the umbrella association of recruiting agencies in Nepal, said the Malaysian embassy in Nepal is working to dissect visa processing into multiple phases. NAFEA Chairman Bal Bahadur Tamang said the embassy has outsourced the finger printing job to another private firm from Thursday and a worker will have to pay Rs 1,600 for the service.

“The cost for visa processing is going up everyday. Earlier, the Malaysian embassy used to provide speedy service by charging Rs 700, however, migrants have to now wait longer despite paying three times more,” said Tamang.

The Nepal Foreign Employment Medical Association, the umbrella organisation of medical agencies providing foreign employment in the health services sector, has been launching a separate protest against the Malaysia’s  decision to make it mandatory for medical agencies to use software produced specifically by Malaysian IT firm, Bestinet Sdn Bhd that cost almost $ 8,000.

Malaysia to hire 200,000 Nepalis

Malaysia has assured Nepal to hire 200,000 Nepali workers in a year for its industrial, agricultural and security sectors. In a meeting with Nepali side, the visiting Malaysian Home Minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, said his country looks forward to recruit more workers in the coming years.

According to officials at the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE) present in the meeting, Malaysia wants to hire additional Nepali workers for its industrial, plantation, security, agricultural and service industries.

MoLE Spokesperson Buddhi Bahadur Khadka said Malaysia is willing to hire more Nepali workers, honouring their honesty and diligence in their work.

Malaysia, the most popular labour destination for Nepalis, has been hiring around 100,000 Nepali workers each year for the last few years. Currently, there are around 500,000 Nepali workers in Malaysia.

Malaysia has also agreed to address the problem faced by Nepali workers after Nepali side complaint of exploitation and abuse of Nepali workers.

Published on: 3 April 2014 | The Kathmandu Post