KATHMANDU, OCT 03 - 2012
The Ministry of Labour and Employment ( MoLE ) is getting ready to issue a Standard Operating Procedure ( SOP ) to regulate the foreign employment sector in a bid to end exploitation of migrant workers and ease the terrible conditions they have to endure abroad.
The SOP , which is planned to be enforced in one month, will free migrant workers from the hassle of dealing with multiple stakeholders in the foreign employment sector. The SOP has assigned specific responsibilities to different entities.
According to MoLE spokesperson Buddhi Bahadur Khadka, the SOP aims to set up a standard work operation. He said that the new procedure would cover the purview of all the stakeholders including the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), Nepali missions in the destination countries, the Department of Immigration (DoI), the Labour Desk at Tribhuvan International Airport and recruiting agencies.
“We have realised that workers are facing problems as they are required to submit unnecessary documents and visit many offices to complete a single requirement,” said Khadka. “The SOP will remove needless paperwork by assigning particular functions to the concerned bodies. It will enhance the speed, quality and volume of service we provide to aspiring migrant workers,” said Khadka.
Due to the involvement of various ministries in foreign employment, most workers have to wait for many days for a single procedure to be completed. A large number of workers are exploited by government officials at the DoFE and the DoI and by their employment companies and agents. Ambiguous and conflicting regulations have resulted in overlapping authority of diverse stakeholders and burdened workers with superfluous paperwork.
MoLE officials said that discussions were still continuing with the concerned stakeholders to make the new mechanism more effective. DoFE director general Purna Chandra Bhattarai said that their main objective was to ensure freedom from exploitation for workers. “Service seekers are suffering due to too many stakeholders and requirements. Our main objective is to specify procedures for workers and the concerned offices,” said Bhattarai.
The procedures, he said, would particularly specify the requirements for pre-approval and final approval and the responsibilities of other offices like the labour desk, the DoI and the Nepali embassies.
Chairman of the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies Bal Bahadur Tamang said that the new procedure could be helpful in regulating the foreign employment sector. “Our workers often face various problems at TIA immigration despite holding legal documents. The procedures should regulate all the stakeholders and protect workers from exploitation at every step,” said Tamang.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
The Ministry of Labour and Employment ( MoLE ) is getting ready to issue a Standard Operating Procedure ( SOP ) to regulate the foreign employment sector in a bid to end exploitation of migrant workers and ease the terrible conditions they have to endure abroad.
The SOP , which is planned to be enforced in one month, will free migrant workers from the hassle of dealing with multiple stakeholders in the foreign employment sector. The SOP has assigned specific responsibilities to different entities.
According to MoLE spokesperson Buddhi Bahadur Khadka, the SOP aims to set up a standard work operation. He said that the new procedure would cover the purview of all the stakeholders including the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), Nepali missions in the destination countries, the Department of Immigration (DoI), the Labour Desk at Tribhuvan International Airport and recruiting agencies.
“We have realised that workers are facing problems as they are required to submit unnecessary documents and visit many offices to complete a single requirement,” said Khadka. “The SOP will remove needless paperwork by assigning particular functions to the concerned bodies. It will enhance the speed, quality and volume of service we provide to aspiring migrant workers,” said Khadka.
Due to the involvement of various ministries in foreign employment, most workers have to wait for many days for a single procedure to be completed. A large number of workers are exploited by government officials at the DoFE and the DoI and by their employment companies and agents. Ambiguous and conflicting regulations have resulted in overlapping authority of diverse stakeholders and burdened workers with superfluous paperwork.
MoLE officials said that discussions were still continuing with the concerned stakeholders to make the new mechanism more effective. DoFE director general Purna Chandra Bhattarai said that their main objective was to ensure freedom from exploitation for workers. “Service seekers are suffering due to too many stakeholders and requirements. Our main objective is to specify procedures for workers and the concerned offices,” said Bhattarai.
The procedures, he said, would particularly specify the requirements for pre-approval and final approval and the responsibilities of other offices like the labour desk, the DoI and the Nepali embassies.
Chairman of the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies Bal Bahadur Tamang said that the new procedure could be helpful in regulating the foreign employment sector. “Our workers often face various problems at TIA immigration despite holding legal documents. The procedures should regulate all the stakeholders and protect workers from exploitation at every step,” said Tamang.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
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