GLOBAL CRISIS-2: Squad of 45 to SKorea under EPS

Forty-five blue-collar Nepali job aspirants left for South Korea today under the Employment Permit System (EPS). Earlier, they were leaving in batches every week but now they are leaving at fortnightly intervals.
After South Korea started feeling the heat of the global financial crisis, it was expected it would change its policy. "However, there is no sign of policy change till date," said Kamal Koirala, Nepal's ambassador to South Korea.
Korea has set an annual quota (from March to February of the following year) for foreign workers. For the year between 2008 and February 2009, the annual quota of 72,000 exhausted on December 30, 2008. Though Korea has stopped issuing new employment permits until the begining of March 2009, those who have already received certificates of confirmation of visa issuance (CCVI) will continue to fly there.
Some 2,592 CCVIs were received by the EPS Section under the Department of Labour and Employment Promotion (DoLE). However, 171 CCVIs were also cancelled.
Those having already received their labour contracts from their Korean employers will not be affected by the exhaustion of the quota and thus still proceed to Korea. The EPS section has received 2,814 labour contracts. According to the section, 71 labour contacts have also been cancelled.
The majority of Nepalis are assigned to the manufacturing and agriculture sectors while a few are employed in hotels. "Nepalis work in those sectors where Koreans don't prefer working," the envoy said and added: "That's why the job lay-off by the Korean government won't affect Nepalis."
The number of people with jobs fell in South Korea in December year-on-year for the first time since 2003, reflecting the severe economic downturn, according to the National Statistical Office, South Korea.
A total of 23,245,000 people were employed last month, a loss of 12,000 from a year earlier and the first such annual contraction since October 2003 when 83,000 jobs disappeared. The youth jobless rate covering those aged 15 to 29 went up by 0.3 percentage point from a year earlier to 7.6 per cent in December, the office said.
"Conglomerates in the last quarter of fiscal 2008 will start cutting the number of employees full-scale, or at least won't hire more people in the near year," according to a report.
"However, there are only around 7,500 Nepalis, including students and kids," Koirala said. "Thus the impact on Nepalis will not be huge," the first Nepali envoy to South Korea reasoned adding that apart from this it's a government-to-government contract.
According to the contract between the two countries, after receiving HRD-Korea's final letter with the names of job aspirants, the department begins sending them to Korea. The name-list that HRD-Korea sent is according to the CCVI list. As per EPS rules, the first step for employment in South Korea is the Korean Language Test (KLT) and a stringent medical test.
After the government sealed an agreement with South Korea to send workers under EPS, Nepalis are flying to Korea on an airfare charge of $970. Prior to this, some manpower agencies used to charge hefty amounts of upto Rs 6 lakhs for each ticket.

Outbound traffic up
KATHMANDU: The number of Nepalis leaving for work abroad increased by eight per cent during the month of Magh in comparison to Poush. According to the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), 18,715 workers left for various destinations during Magh, up from 17,300 a month ago. The number of workers leaving for Malaysia dropped to 1,553 in comparison to 2,873 a month earlier. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) witnessed a rise, albeit marginal to 2,550 from 2,548 previous month. According to the department, only 6,413 Nepalis left for Qatar. During the first seven months of this fiscal year, the number of migrant workers increased by 4.5 per cent to 1,38,867 in compariosn to 1,32,812 during the same period last year.

Workers' new batch off to South Korea

One of the last batches of Nepali job-seekers from the year 2008's quota left today for a much-sought after destination, South Korea. The 136-member group left under the Employment Permit System (EPS).
After talk that South Korea has reduced the number of Nepali workers due to the global financial crisis, the embassy of the Republic of Korea here recently said that there has been no change in policy at all regarding issuance of employment permits for contracts with foreign workers, including Nepalis.
"The annual quota (from March to February of the following year) set by the Korean government for foreign workers gets exhausted just before the year-end, leaving no room for new contracts in the remaining period, ie January and February," said the embassy.
For the year between 2008 and February 2009, the annual quota of 72,000 exhausted on December 30, 2008, and the Korean government has stopped issuing new employment permits until the begining of March 2009.
"The chances of some 4,000 Nepalis to work in Korea, whose names are already on the job roster, will be revived starting March 2009," the South Korean embassy clarified.
Those who have already received their labour contract from their Korean employers will not be affected by the exhaustion of the quota and thus still proceed to Korea, said an official at the EPS Section under the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE). The majority of workers is assigned to the manufacturing and agriculture sector while a few are employed in hotels, he said.
After receiving HRD-Korea's final letter with the names of job aspirants, the department had begun sending them to Korea from August 10. Till date, the EPS section at DoFE has received 2,519 certificates of confirmation of visa issuance (CCVI). The name-list that HRD-Korea sent was according to the CCVI list.
Similarly, 2,811 have made labour contracts but 160 CCVI and 67 labour contracts have also been cancelled so far, according to the department. Earlier, job aspirants, who passed the medical tests, underwent a 15-day orientation. As per EPS rules, the first step for employment in South Korea is the Korean Language Test (KLT) and a subsequent stringent medical test.
After the government sealed an agreement with the Korean government to send the workers under EPS, Nepalis are flying to Korea on an airfare charge of $970 (about Rs 63,000). Prior to this, some manpower agencies used to charge hefty amounts of upto Rs 6 lakhs for each ticket.