Manpower drain on rise

The percentage of Nepali workers going abroad for foreign employment surged by 12.5 cent in the fiscal year 2007-08.
Department of Labour and Employment Promotion (DoLEP) granted exit approval to 2,41,100 workers in 2007-08. It had granted approval to 2,14,400 workers the previous fiscal year.
Qatar, Malaysia, UAE and Saudi Arabia werethe top four countries absorbing Nepali workers. Qatar alone absorbed 84,500 Nepali workers, showing an increase of 42.9 per cent over last fiscal year. This is nearly 35 per cent of the total foreign employment, according to Nepal Rastra Bank’s data.
“The agencies might have got more demands from Qatar,” DoLEP director general Keshar Bahadur Baniya said adding that the trend was changing according to demands from various countries.
Qatar was followed by Malaysia (49,600), UAE (44,100) and Saudi Arabia (42,300). Qatar became the top destination for foreign employment in 2007-08. Malaysia was the top destination till last year. This year, it slid down to second position because of the difficult working conditions there.DoLEP said the total number of workers going abroad for foreign employment exceeded 1.2 million till 2007-08. The number of migrant workers leaving for various destinations also increased by 27.23 per cent in the month of Shrawan compared to that last Shrawan. According to DoLEP, “A total of 23,130 workers left for various destinations in Shrawan.”
Around 400,000 Nepalis are working in Malaysia in construction, manufacturing and agriculture sectors. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) received 3,446 in the month of Shrawan compared to 3,093 last Shrawan, an increase of 11 per cent. Bahrain also received a significant number of Nepali workers — 700 persons, DoLEP said.