The government has made arrangements for Nepali female who are domestic workers in different countries to come back home.
Minister for Labor, Employment and Social Security Krishna Kumar Shrestha has made a ministerial decision to re-employ domestic workers who could not come to Nepal to visit their families for fear of losing their jobs.
Due to the ban on Nepali women as domestic workers in the Gulf and other countries, women who have been working in those countries for years have not been able to come home on leave for fear of losing their jobs.
According to Article 23 of the Directive on Sending Domestic Workers for Foreign Employment, 2072 BS, Minister Shrestha has made arrangements to provide re-employment permits to distressed women by exercising their right to remove obstacles.
The coordinating committee formed under the directive to send domestic workers for foreign employment and the study committee formed by the ministry had also recommended ruling in favor of women who had been working as domestic workers in those countries even before the ban was imposed.
Nepali female domestic workers who reached the Gulf without being banned and later went through illegal routes could not return as they did not get a labor permit after returning to Nepal even though the employer’s behavior and income was good.
Provision has been made to allow women to return home on leave after renewing their contract with the previous employer or to go for employment after renewing their contract with the previous employer by fulfilling the legal condition and keeping separate records of them by the concerned country’s mission and foreign employment office.
Since the ban on sending women workers to Gulf countries, women have been using unofficial routes abroad. As a result, they are at risk of forced labor and trafficking. Minister Shrestha said that women were more at risk than being safe due to the ban.
There are no records of women who have gone illegally, exploitation, trafficking, and a large number of workers are stranded in the destination country. On 20 Chaitra 2073, the Committee on International Relations and Labor of the Legislature-Parliament had directed to impose a complete ban on sending domestic workers to the Gulf and other countries.
Illegal migrant workers are at even greater risk as the government bans sending domestic workers. Minister Shrestha said that a decision will be reached soon after reaching a consensus with the stakeholders for the solution.
