Saudi Arabia has shown reluctance to sign an agreement put forward by Nepal government requiring employers to pay the visa processing fees and airfares of the Nepalese migrant workers heading to work in that country. In response to the government's push for a "free-visa-free-ticket" system for Nepalese migrant workers leaving for Saudi Arabia, the third largest destination country for Nepali workers has been pressing the government to ink an agreement on domestic workers first.

 

"We have been trying to get the Saudi government to discuss the low-cost system we recently introduced, but it has refused to consider it so far," informed State Minister Tek Bahadur Gurung at the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MoLE).

 

Minister Gurung informed that MoUs on both general and domestic workers have been forwarded to the Saudi government.

 

Last year, the MoLE introduced a ban on Nepali workers from traveling to the Gulf countries for domestic employment citing rising cases of exploitation and violence against them by the employers.

 

Meanwhile, officials at the MoLE said the government will lift the ban once it decides on the training centers and recruiting agencies for the entire process.

 

Saudi Arabia has been strongly opposing Nepal's push for establishing an outreach center there for Nepalese domestic workers.

 

Although Nepal has been trying to convince the Saudi government to sign the MoUs since a year, it has not been able to make any progress.

 

The government also plans to sign the MoUs with Malaysia and Kuwait, the first and fifth largest destination countries, respectively.

 

Political advisor at the MoLE, Ramesh Koirala, said, "We forwarded the proposals a year ago, but the Saudi government has refused to sign it citing some reservations."

 

Out of the 110 countries opened for foreign employment, Nepal has managed to sign MoUs on migrant workers only with Japan, South Korea, Qatar, Bahrain and UAE.

 

The MoLE introduced the free-visa-free-ticket system recently for seven countries--Malaysia, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman and Kuwait.

 

The government has been trying to hold talks with the countries in order to effectively implement the system, which aims to reduce the financial burden on migrant workers. Under the system, the migrant workers are required to pay only up to Rs 17,000 toward medical tests, insurance and the welfare amount to be deposited at the Foreign Employment Promotion Board.

 

The government is also preparing to rid the recruitment process of the brokers, which will directly benefit the migrant workers.