Immigration employees involved in women smuggling: Parliamentary team: Free ticket free visa only in paper

The Kathmandu Post (online)

Mar 28, 2017

A parliamentary team has come up with the finding that employees of the Department of Immigration under the Ministry of Home Affairs have a role in sending Nepali women to foreign countries as domestic help through an illegal channel.

A team of the Legislature-Parliament's International Relations and Labour Committee which returned home after conducting a field study to find out the situation of Nepali workers in the Gulf countries-- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates-- stated that human smugglers have a nexus with Department employees in fixing a 'setting' for the smuggling of migrant workers to these countries.

The team had left for the study visit on March 18.

Committee President Prabhu Saha said it was a matter of grave concern that department employees have a hand in the smuggling of migrant workers from the country. The government will be recommended for probing into the matter, he said.

Among those reaching the Gulf countries via an illegal way, more than half percent flew off via Tribhuvan International Airport while the remaining used the routes through India and Sri Lanka. They were easily provided with tourist permits by the Department.

Over 30 thousands women from Nepal have presently reached the Saudi Arabia illegally as domestic helper and the number of women reaching other countries through the same channel is equally high, the Committee said.

The team's another finding is that condition of most of women who reached the Gulf countries as domestic helper is not good.

Nepali Embassies in these four countries have rescued dozens of women and have kept them in temporary shelters.

Likewise the implementation of a free ticket and free visa provision for those going on foreign employment is limited just in paper. During the visit, the team had interviewed over 1000 Nepali migrant workers in these four countries and the interesting fact is none of them said that they enjoyed the free visa and free ticket facilities while going for jobs.

The nine-member team headed by Saha comprised lawmakers Binod Shrestha, Prem Kishore Prasad Saha, Ashok Kumar Mandal, Rajya Laxmi Shrestha and Radhadevi Timilsina, among others. RSS