By Bernama,
Kathmandu : The Nepali government has been urged to make labour agreements with other countries to protect the rights of Nepali migrant workers, China’ Xinhua news agency quoted a local daily as reporting Saturday.
The appeal was made by participants, including social activists and representatives of migrant workers, at the International Migrant Workers’ Hearing Program on the occasion of International Migrants’ Day on Friday, according to the report.
At the program, Chanda Thapa of solidarity said that there are around 15,000 Nepali workers in Oman but they are exploited. As Nepal has no labor agreement with Oman, Nepali workers there are deprived of various rights.
“Most manpower companies here are not trustworthy and Nepalis relying on them get cheated in the initial phase.
“These companies hoodwink migrant workers with their talk about high salaries and good job prospects in the Gulf countries but the reality there is quite hard to hear,” said Sapana Basyal, a social activist based in Malaysia.
According to Basyal, there are around 400,000 Nepalis in Malaysia but there are only five staffers at the Nepalese Embassy there for such a huge number of Nepalis in Malaysia.
“People there have to face depression as there is no labor agreement between Nepal and Malaysia and the Nepalis there are deprived of things like visa renewal process and various others including insurance policies,” Basyal said.
Nepali migrant workers have to do overtime, resulting in serious health problems, and even the death of some workers.
Working hours usually stretch from 16 hours to even 24 hours, said Sagar Shrestha of Prabasinepali.com, who lived in Saudi Arabia for six years.
According to Shrestha, there are 500,000 Nepalis in Saudi Arabia and most of them are exploited in their workplace.
Speaking on the occasion, several migrant workers urged the Nepali government to facilitate the migrant workers’ sector by making labor agreement with all those countries which absorb Nepali workforce.