DUBAI: Nepal's visiting Minister of Labour and Transport Mohammed Aftab Alam discussed the low wages being paid to Nepali workers in comparison to workers of other countries in the UAE.
Minister Alam held talks in Abu Dhabi with the UAE Minister for Labour, Saqr Gobash, and the Minister of Foreign Trade, Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi on a gamut of issues like wages, the image of Nepali expatriates and housemaids' jobs for Nepali women.
He said the Nepal government is making efforts to increase employment opportunities and improve working conditions for Nepalis in the UAE, including raising the minimum acceptable wage it set last year. "Nepali workers' wages are set at Dh600 ($163) by our government. However, we see that workers from other nations are taken at higher wages than Nepali workers," he said adding that he raised the issue in the discussion with the UAE ministers.
"We hope it is resolved soon," Alam said. "The government also plans to lift the ban on Nepali women working as housemaids in Gulf countries." He added that Nepali maids are still being hired illegally and that removing the ban could help regulate the process and even lead to the offenders being caught.
"We are considering lifting the ban on our citizens working as housemaids in Gulf countries as well as raising the minimum wage acceptable for those taking jobs in the UAE," he said adding that if the government opens the market, action can be taken against agents. "I will submit a detailed report about this to the government," he said.
Alam also promised action against recruitment agents who made false promises to construction workers. "Agents violating laws are an issue for the government and we are studying how to counter them. We intend to bring them under the laws of Nepal and strict legal action would be taken against these offenders," he said.
With high unemployment and a weak economy following years of civil strife, Nepal relies heavily on the millions of dollars remitted by non-resident Nepalis around the world. A large number of Nepalis in the UAE are employed as construction workers while some work as security guards or in the hospitality industry. Several others have businesses.
"Nepali workers are disciplined, good and hardworking, which is why their numbers in the UAE are increasing," he said adding that the government is setting up programmes to train workers so that they can get employment in skilled and semi-skilled jobs.
On his first visit to the Emirates, he also took part in the third Middle East Conference of the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA), held in Dubai over the weekend, which discussed issues facing the community in the region and around the world."
At present, Nepal faces the challenge of unemployment and the government is keen to improve the economy. We were assured all co-operation from the UAE government. We will now prepare a detailed study on which sectors the two nations could co-operate," he added.
Showing posts with label Gulf countries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gulf countries. Show all posts
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Outbound worker torrent slows, falls from 656 per day to 400 per day
The tide of Nepali migrant workers leaving for various destinations abroad has ebbed after the government stopped issuing work permits for Malaysia and other countries also reduced the number of Nepali unskilled migrant workers. According to the Department of Foreign Employment (DoEF), in the month of Poush, the number of Nepali foreign job-seekers dropped to 12,313. It was was 18,685 in Mangsir and 20,543 a month earlier in Kartik.
Till couple of months ago, 656 Nepalis used to leave for foreign jobs but now only 400 Nepalis -- that is 256 less per day -- leave for the foreign job.
Taking cue from the global economic meltdown, the Gulf countries -- major markets for Nepali migrant workers -- have reduced the workforce strength especially unskilled hands and those working in manufacturing and service sectors.
Labour expert Dr Chiranjivi Nepal said the government should tackle this issue diplomatically. "Nepali diplomatic agnecies in those countries have failed totally," he alleged. Dr Nepal also suggested that they could use the laid-off workforce for reconstruction. "The capital expenditure has been very less this year compared to last year," he said adding that if the government has positive intentions it should start mega projects and employ Nepali youths.
Instead, the government is scouring for new destinations like Oman and Libya to mitigate the crisis. "What can be more risky?" Dr Nepal said. Libya and Oman both have 30 per cent and 15 per cent unemployment. Besides, there is no Nepali mission in either country.
Japan is another lucrative market to where the government has started the process for sending trainee workers. "But this also is for a limited number of semi-skilled and trainee workers, not unskilled ones," said Dr Nepal.
The drop in number of migrant workers will hit remittance which in turn will put more pressure on government exchequer. The impact of the drop in number of outbound workers will be on next year's remittance as the first half of this fiscal year has already passed. Remittance is a lifeline for the Nepali economy.
"In the long run, it might have an impact," opined Atish Shrestha, country manager of Western Union, one of the major remittance companies. "Remittance from the US and the European countries has seen nominal drop," he said adding that till December, the transaction size was around $1100 per month but in January it came down to $800.
Top 10 destination
KATHMANDU: Malaysia tops the list of top 10 destinations in proportion to the number of Nepali migrant workers, according to official figures. Qatar comes second followed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Quwait.
Malaysia -- 4,26,778
Qatar -- 3,50,453
Saudi Arabia -- 2,31,444
United Arab Emirates -- 1,48,249
Quwait -- 13,420
Bahrain -- 11,220
South Korea -- 6,378
Hong Kong -- 4,213
Oman -- 3,525
Israel -- 2,650
More Qatar visas
DOHA: The government of Qatar has approved 1,12,000 working visas for Nepali workers for 2009. According to Dr Surya Nath Mishra, Nepali ambassador to Qatar, 1,64,000 more visas are in than pipeline. "If so many Nepali workers come here, they would be the largest foreign community here," Dr Mishra said after meeting Qatari Labour Minister Dr Sultan Bin Hasan. He said his meeting with Dr Hasan's on Tuesday was fruitful and cordial. "The Qatari government has clarified that the global meltdown would not affect either the country or Nepali workers working here," the Nepali envoy said. -- RSS
Nepalis' plight
DOHA: Poor implementation of the government's decision to stop Nepali domestic workers from working in Qatar has led to dire consequences. Nepali women continue to enter this country and some of them meet an unimagined fate. Earlier, the plight of Nepali domestic workers was an unheard of matter in Qatar, with only numerous of cases of exploitation and deceiving reported in Saudi Arabia. More women, after finding themselves at the receiving end of exploitation and cheating, are taking refuge at Nepali embassy here. In recent times, the number of their arrival in Doha is on the rise with the Nepali Embassy rescuing eight, including two on Friday alone, in the last one month. The duo -- Asha Bhujel and Anita Nepali -- were lured by Nepali agents on the pretext of good jobs and landed here via Mumbai. Meanwhile, 10 Nepali workers were killed in separate incidents in Qatar in January, according to the embassy. . Most of them died in road accidents, it said. The embassy added that incidences of Nepali workers dying in accidents in this Gulf country are on the rise. – RSS
Till couple of months ago, 656 Nepalis used to leave for foreign jobs but now only 400 Nepalis -- that is 256 less per day -- leave for the foreign job.
Taking cue from the global economic meltdown, the Gulf countries -- major markets for Nepali migrant workers -- have reduced the workforce strength especially unskilled hands and those working in manufacturing and service sectors.
Labour expert Dr Chiranjivi Nepal said the government should tackle this issue diplomatically. "Nepali diplomatic agnecies in those countries have failed totally," he alleged. Dr Nepal also suggested that they could use the laid-off workforce for reconstruction. "The capital expenditure has been very less this year compared to last year," he said adding that if the government has positive intentions it should start mega projects and employ Nepali youths.
Instead, the government is scouring for new destinations like Oman and Libya to mitigate the crisis. "What can be more risky?" Dr Nepal said. Libya and Oman both have 30 per cent and 15 per cent unemployment. Besides, there is no Nepali mission in either country.
Japan is another lucrative market to where the government has started the process for sending trainee workers. "But this also is for a limited number of semi-skilled and trainee workers, not unskilled ones," said Dr Nepal.
The drop in number of migrant workers will hit remittance which in turn will put more pressure on government exchequer. The impact of the drop in number of outbound workers will be on next year's remittance as the first half of this fiscal year has already passed. Remittance is a lifeline for the Nepali economy.
"In the long run, it might have an impact," opined Atish Shrestha, country manager of Western Union, one of the major remittance companies. "Remittance from the US and the European countries has seen nominal drop," he said adding that till December, the transaction size was around $1100 per month but in January it came down to $800.
Top 10 destination
KATHMANDU: Malaysia tops the list of top 10 destinations in proportion to the number of Nepali migrant workers, according to official figures. Qatar comes second followed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Quwait.
Malaysia -- 4,26,778
Qatar -- 3,50,453
Saudi Arabia -- 2,31,444
United Arab Emirates -- 1,48,249
Quwait -- 13,420
Bahrain -- 11,220
South Korea -- 6,378
Hong Kong -- 4,213
Oman -- 3,525
Israel -- 2,650
More Qatar visas
DOHA: The government of Qatar has approved 1,12,000 working visas for Nepali workers for 2009. According to Dr Surya Nath Mishra, Nepali ambassador to Qatar, 1,64,000 more visas are in than pipeline. "If so many Nepali workers come here, they would be the largest foreign community here," Dr Mishra said after meeting Qatari Labour Minister Dr Sultan Bin Hasan. He said his meeting with Dr Hasan's on Tuesday was fruitful and cordial. "The Qatari government has clarified that the global meltdown would not affect either the country or Nepali workers working here," the Nepali envoy said. -- RSS
Nepalis' plight
DOHA: Poor implementation of the government's decision to stop Nepali domestic workers from working in Qatar has led to dire consequences. Nepali women continue to enter this country and some of them meet an unimagined fate. Earlier, the plight of Nepali domestic workers was an unheard of matter in Qatar, with only numerous of cases of exploitation and deceiving reported in Saudi Arabia. More women, after finding themselves at the receiving end of exploitation and cheating, are taking refuge at Nepali embassy here. In recent times, the number of their arrival in Doha is on the rise with the Nepali Embassy rescuing eight, including two on Friday alone, in the last one month. The duo -- Asha Bhujel and Anita Nepali -- were lured by Nepali agents on the pretext of good jobs and landed here via Mumbai. Meanwhile, 10 Nepali workers were killed in separate incidents in Qatar in January, according to the embassy. . Most of them died in road accidents, it said. The embassy added that incidences of Nepali workers dying in accidents in this Gulf country are on the rise. – RSS
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)