16th Int’l Migrants Day observed, Govt to forward programmes benefiting migrant workers

Kathmandu / December 18: The International Migrants Day, a day being observed since 2004 to commemorate the courageous expression of the individual’s will to overcome adversity for a better life through migration, was observed here today amid various programmes.

Though Nepal is not yet a signatory to the United Nations (UN) convention related to migrant workers passed in 1990, it has been celebrating this day since 2006 to express its solidarity with the world’s governing body in ensuring various sorts of welfare to migrant workers all over the world.

The General Assembly of the UN on December 4, 2004 proclaimed December 18 as the International Migrants Day.

On the occasion of 16th International Migrants Day, the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MoLE) together with various stakeholder agencies organized a rally in Kathmandu with a slogan ‘Safe Foreign Employment, Our Common Concern.’

The rally also demanded respect for foreign employment, an end to several types of violence against international migrant workers and an end to duping migrant workers by unscrupulous recruiting agencies among all sorts of acts of victimization.

Addressing the event, Secretary of the MoLE Ram Kumar Acharya said that it would be more meaningful to observe the day in participation of the returnee migrant workers, aspirant migrant workers and recruiting agencies.

Arguing that the Nepali migrant workers were fleeced by fellow countrymen from their recruiting agencies and training centres right from their recruitment, Secretary Acharya urged concerned stakeholders to spearhead a campaign that would call an end to all sorts of duping against the Nepali migrant workers.

He pledged that the Ministry was going to forward various programmes and plans benefitting the aspiring Nepali migrant workers such as implementing free visa and ticket for them to major labour destinations, creating job opportunities in the home country and accrediting the foreign employment returnees with certificate on the basis of their skills and the like.

According to him, the Ministry was also gearing up to hold discussion with the Election Commission on how to facilitate Nepali migrant workers abroad in casting their votes in the election back home.

The Foreign Employment Promotion Board’s statistics show that except for India, there are currently more than 3.9 million Nepali workers being employed overseas, mainly in the Gulf countries.

Similarly, more than a million foreign migrant workers, including Indians, Bangladeshis, are estimated to be working in Nepal.

Of the total 2.32 billion migrant workers across the globe, Asia and Pacific region alone is home to one third of them, according to the UN.

Also, speaking at the programme, Bhupendra Khattri, a migrant worker returnee from South Korea underscored the need for the Nepali migrant workers to utilize the skills learned abroad and contribute to the country’s development upon their return.

“I have ventured into tourism sector upon my return from Korea; I have also decided to allocate some portion of my income for social cause,” confided Khattri, who is operating Home Stay programme in various tourist spots in Nepal.

Another migrant worker returnee Muna Gautam spoke of the need for the government to formulate a clear policy to this effect and implement them strictly so that no Nepali migrant worker abroad will have to suffer various sorts of exploitations. RSS