At what cost? Migrants’ deaths shroud economic benefits

KATHMANDU, DEC 19 -

The foreign employment has been by far the most successful sector for Nepal in economic term but from human rights and security perspective, the situations continues to go from bad to worse, reports reveal.  

Since Nepal institutionally opened up for foreign employment in the 1990s, the number of people joining the overseas job, especially in the Gulf and Malaysia, has been accelerating in an unprecedented pace.

According to the Department of Foreign Employment, more than 450,000 Nepalis left the country in the last fiscal year alone.

Remittance coming from Nepal’s overseas workforce has been fundamental in sustaining the national economy, making nearly 24 percent contribution to the country’s GDP. Nepal Rastra Bank’s (NRB) annual financial reports show the country received Rs 434.58 billion in the last fiscal year, up from Rs 359.55 billion in 2011-12.

The inflow of remittance, however, has glossed over the humane side of Nepal’s overseas employment which paints a sorry picture. Migrant workers are compelled to pay huge price due to widespread human rights violation and security concerns, say reports released by various rights groups in the few weeks in the run up to the International Migrants Day.

Official reports of the Foreign Employment Promotion Board (FEPB) and the TIA administration show three dead bodies on an average are repatriated to the country everyday and hundreds of injured migrant s every month.

The data accumulated by Consular section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) from Nepali missions in major labour destinations (excluding India) show at least 7,400 Nepali nationals have lost their lives over the past two decades. The figures include 3,500 deaths in Saudi and 2,300 in Malaysia since 2000.

A separate report of the FEPB shows it provided relief package worth

Rs 100,000 to each family of 2,700 migrant s who died during their work tenure in the last five years. The figures do not include illegal migrant s and families not claiming relief that the board provides to the deceased migrant workers.

Over the past five years, 915 Nepali workers died in Malaysia, 736 in Saudi, 614 in Qatar, 215 the United Arab Emirates, 72 in Kuwait, 47 in Bahrain and 31 in Korea, according to the FEPB.  

The revelation of widespread exploitation and abuse of Nepali workers, especially in the Gulf and Malaysia, has drawn widespread criticism from the rights groups and the media.

They have been pushing the labour receiving countries to end the ‘slave-like’ treatment of workers by ending the unequal laws.

The Human Rights Watch on Wednesday has urged the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) to leverage their countries’ collective bargaining power to seek greater protection for their nationals working in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

“The Gulf countries should recognise the crucial role foreign workers play in their economies and take measures to ensure that their rights are fully respected,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “South Asian governments should join forces to press for reforms to end the terrible abuses against migrant workers that have gone on for far too long.”

The situation is particularly dire for the millions of migrant domestic workers, almost exclusively women, isolated in private homes, Human Rights Watch said.

Excluded from key

protections in national labour laws, they are at heightened risk of exploitation and abuse, and they are sometimes subjected to conditions of slavery.

“The Gulf countries should reform the kafala (sponsorship) system by allowing workers to change jobs or return to their country without employer consent,” reads the report.

In its report released on Wednesday to mark the International Migrants Day, the Amnesty International said the plight of over 80 migrant , including 60 Nepalis, construction workers of Qatar-based Lee Trading and Contracting (LTC) is worsening by the day, with no means to buy food. The company had been providing the workers 250 riyals in food allowance a month but stopped that in October, says the AI report.

Qatar’s strict kafala system has also left them stranded, without an option of searching for another job.

Nor have they been issued with valid residence permits which can even lead to them being arrested as per the Qatari law.

“It is shameful to think that in one of the richest countries in the world, migrant workers are being left to go hungry. The Qatari authorities must take action immediately,” AI representative Salil Shetty said in a statement.