Malaysian Home Minister Dr Ahmed Zahid Hamidi has said he would initiate the process for signing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nepal on labor migration management. 

 

During a meeting with State Minister for Labor and Employment Tek Bahadur Gurung at his office on Wednesday, the visiting dignitary said he will send an invitation to his Nepali counterpart to sign the MoU in Kuala Lumpur after completing necessary preparation. 

 

Krishna Hari Puskar, director general of Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), said Minister Hamidi gave positive response on the draft MoU prepared by the government. Nepal had first sent the draft to Malaysia about a year ago. The Malaysian government, however, had not shown any response to the draft. The visit of Minister Hamidi and his positive reaction on the draft have encouraged Nepali officials.

 

There are over 500,000 Nepali workers in Malaysia. Puskar said they had revised the draft of MoU that incorporates updated international standards and related law of both the countries. “We will now forward the draft to the Labor Ministry of Malaysia through diplomatic channel,” added Puskar.

 

During the meeting, Minister Gurung grew the attention of the visiting dignitary toward problems being faced by Nepali workers in Malaysia, frequent changes in visa fee, and levies imposed by the Malaysian government on migrant workers. He also expressed worries over increasing deaths of Nepali workers in Malaysia.

 

“Additional financial burden on migrant workers should be reduced. The amount should be paid by the employer, recruiting companies or the Malaysian government,” Minister Gurung said in the meeting, according to Puskar.

 

The proposed MoU, once signed, will, among others, enable workers to seek legal remedies in case of exploitation. In the meeting, Minister Hamidi said he would take necessary initiatives to repatriate Nepali workers languishing in Malaysian jails. He also promised to recruit additional 200,000 Nepali workers within a year. Malaysian authorities arrested more than 500 Nepali workers, who were staying illegally in the South East Asian nation, in December last year.

 

Minister Hamidi also met Foreign Minister Mahendra Bahadur Pandey on Wednesday. The duo discussed issues of bilateral relations as well as safety, security and well-being of Nepali workers in Malaysia, according to officials.