KATHMANDU, JUL 09 – As much the government decision to waive visa fee and air fare from the workers visiting the Gulf states and Malaysia has enraged the foreign employment agencies in the country, it has also brought equal measure of joy and relief among the aspiring migrant workers and those already working abroad.
The Nepali migrants working in the Gulf countries and Malaysia are already taking to the social media platforms like Facebook to welcome the decision which, they believe, will finally end the middlemen culture and control financial exploitation of Nepali men and women applying for overseas employment. Besides commending the government decision, they are also critical of the protest launched by the recruitment agencies terming it selfish and unwarranted.
“Why object when public are getting chance to join overseas job in free visa and free ticket. I know the pain of working in foreign land, what would you (recruiting agency) know?,” Ram Narayan Shah, a migrant working in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, commented on Facebook.
Bishu Prasad Wasti, another migrant worker who is currently in Saudi Arabia, commented: “Manpower agencies are getting mad for not being able to suck the blood of 30 million Nepalis.”
The public anger towards the recruiting agencies is a product of deep-rooted exploitation culture inherent in recruitment system. Most of the Nepali migrant workers face financial as well as labour exploitation at the hands of their recruiting agencies and employers. Despite paying exorbitant service charge to go abroad for employment, only a few workers get the promised salary.