CMIR

Programs

Recruitment Reform

CMIR was active in pressuring the government to reform recruitment processes which are relatively unmonitored and often lead to worker exploitation and debt bondage. CMIR began by hosting round-table discussions to identify recruitment challenges and even participated in rallies in favor of the Free Visa Free Ticket Policy. Along with other civil society partners, CMIR then visited the government and used policy documents, articles about recruitment processes and data collected from cases to write and submit a Memorandum of Appeal.

As the government moves forward with decentralization from Kathmandu, CMIR is continuing to conduct research to provide policy recommendations for the new minister with the hope of increasing government collaboration in decentralizing key components of the recruitment process making it easier and safer for migrant workers to obtain foreign employment.

Free Visa Free Ticket

Before the implementation of Free Visa Free Ticket policy, the government allowed manpower agencies to charge migrant workers a minimum of NPR 70,000 as recruitment fee to Gulf countries and NPR 80,000 to Malaysia. This practice financially burdened the migrant workers who had to borrow loans with high interest rate. The implementation of Free Visa Free ticket has definitely helped lower the suffering and lifted the financial load for them. Migrant workers going to Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman are entitled to benefit from this policy.

Free Visa Free Ticket is a significant provision made by government on behalf of the migrant workers. Finding the need to address the financial exploitation of the migrant workers from the manpower agencies at the policy level, many civil society organizations, including non-governmental organizations like Center for Migration and International Relations (CMIR), persuaded the government to implement the policy for the welfare of the migrant workers. 

In a long battle to sensitize the government to turn the policy into reality, CMIR and other organizations fearlessly submitted memorandum to the government agencies and frequently published news articles in different media platforms and also conducted non-violent protest. Thus, on July 12, 2015, the government officially announced that Free Visa Free Ticket was into force. 

If a migrant worker is travelling to any country endorsed in the Free Visa Free Ticket policy, their visa and travel fees are to be waived. In such case, it would be illegal for manpower agencies to deduce the sum from the workers’ wages in the name of visa and ticket expenses. However, the recruitment agencies can charge a maximum of NPR 10000 under promotional fees and services only when the employer institution doesn’t bear the travel expenses and visa fees. But the agency should provide authentic verification of the detail.

The national and international rules and regulations that coincide with the Free Visa and Free Ticket policy are the 1990 UN Convention, ILO Convention 181, Dhaka Principle for Migration with dignity 2012, Sponsorship/Kafala system in Gulf countries, Malaysian Law (Workman Compensation Act 1952), Labour Agreement between Nepal and Qatar on 21 March 2005, 10 Point Agreement between Nepal and Baharain on 3 April 2015. All the above mentioned provisions clearly declare that the air ticket and Visa expenses should be borne by the employer institutions and not by the migrant workers.

The official declaration of Free Visa and Free Ticket has nullified the 2060/01/24 declaration that entitled migrant workers to pay NPR 80000 if they are going to Malaysia and NPR 70000 if they are going to Gulf countries. Though the Free Visa Free Ticket policy is inclined towards the welfare of migrant workers, its effective implementation is still under interrogation. Still there’s a lack of proper surveillance on departure/arrival to confirm whether or not the workers are made to pay for their visa and travel expenses by their agents. Memorandum letter to the government 

Foreign Employment Act Amendment

After the Foreign Employment Act of 2007 was put into effect, it became clear that there were some loopholes that facilitated the exploitation of migrant workers that were not previously addressed. In an effort to provide recommendations to protect migrant workers and their families, CMIR in membership with the Civil Society Alliance, an informal alliance between national and local level NGOs who work in the foreign labor sector in Nepal, compiled a document that proposed amendments and submitted it to the former and current Minister of Ministry of Labour and Employment in May 2017. The draft still needs to be reviewed by the

Law Ministry and by the Cabinet before it can become an official amendment to the Act. Since the submission of the draft, the Civil Society Alliance has been pressuring the government to speed up  the reviewing process. CMIR and other members of the Civil Society Alliance have filed public interest litigation, hosted multiple round-table discussions with government officials, written articles pressuring the government, and participated in advocacy rallies.

 

 

Pravasi Suchana Sathi

Pravasi Succhana Sathi is an initiative of Center for Migration and International Relations (CMIR) to ensuring access to information of Nepalese migrant workers and their families. The initiative develops and disseminate reliable, timely, understandable, and process-oriented information, education and communication(IEC) materials to help migrant workers in their labour migration cycle. CMIR coordinates with its national and international network in the process of developing and disseminating those materials.

IEC Materials:

Other :

Nepal

Abroad

Preventive

Curative

Preventive

Curative

1. Basis information required in decision making process of foreign employment

2. Dos and Don’ts in the process of foreign employment

3. What is Free Visa Free Ticket Policy

4. National and International laws that support Free Visa Free ticket policy

5. What is in Labour Permit issued by DoFe

6. Information about obtaining character certificate from Nepal Police

7. Useful mobile apps for migrant workers

8. Province Wise DoFE Office

9. Skill test orientation for returnee migrant workers

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Free funeral vehicle to transport the dead body of migrant worker

2. Guideline video about Online Legal Services provided by Department Consular Services , Nepal

3. Procedure to be followed by injured migrant worker for compensation in Nepal

4. Financial supports provide by Foreign Employment Promotion Board (FEPB)

5. Scholarship to the children of Migrant worker with sample applicationsApplication sample 

6. Process and document required to receive due salary and insurance(destination country) amount from District administration office by the family of deceased migrant worker

7. Scholarship to the migrant worker’s families for vocational education

8. Process to claim insurance of deceased migrant worker

9. What should be done when there is work and wage difference in foreign employment

1. New regulations of Dubai Airport, UAE

2. Prohibited goods to bring in Saudi Arabia(Video)  / Poster

3. About Employment Contract 

4. Punishment for violating ‘Iqama’ System and labor law in Saudi Arabia

5. Online visa verification process for the GCC countries

6. Re-entry provision of Oman for migrant worker

7. Re-entry provision of Kuwait for migrant worker

8. Re-entry provision of Qatar for migrant worker

9. IEC about Methanol

 

 

 

1. Amnesty by Qatar government to undocumented migrant workers

2. Returning process of detained undocumented migrant workers, Malaysia

3. Process to participate in the Amnesty Program announced by Saudi Arabia (Poster) / (About Amnesty, Saudi Arabia)

4. Process to participant amnesty announced by Kuwait government

5. Process to participant amnesty announced by UAE government 

 

 

 

 

 

Legal and Paralegal Support

Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), Ministry of Labour and Employment, Nepal data states that every year half a million Nepalese migrant workers leave Nepal for foreign employment to pursue their dream of employment and to enhance the quality of lives of their families. Many families’ primary needs are fulfilled through remittances. Nepalese migrant workers have been contributing around 28% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nepal through the remittances. Livelihoods of many Nepalese families have changed over few decades byforeign employment; increase awareness in quality education, good health and nutrition are some of the fair example of increase in their quality lives. But the story is not the same for many migrant workers and their families. The chain of false promise and deception begins from the very first stage of foreign employment process. Every year around 4000 complains have been filed in DoFE, Nepal against recruitment agencies and agents; around 4000 to 5000 cases have been registered in the Embassies of Nepal in destination countries regarding labour issue; more than thousands of migrant workers have been detained, around 1200 have been reported dead and thousands of female migrant workers have been facing domestic violation. However, the Civil Society Organizations and the government have claimed that the number of deception and violation have been found very high in comparison to the actual complaints received. Trafficking in person, use of unauthorized routes, dual contract, underpayment and nonpayment of wages by the sponsor, misbehavior by the sponsor, death due to unsecured work and unhygienic food, traffic accidents are some of the major problems that many Nepalese migrant workers have been facing during foreign employment. There have been some efforts from the government and civil society organizations to address the problem of migrant workers and their families, despite many barriers exists like centralized foreign employment offices, limited staff at diplomatic missions, limited and restricted access of migrant workers to government institutions. Due to this fact, many problems of migrant workers are unheard. These circumstances have given space to the traffickers, fraud recruitment agencies and sponsors to continue deceiving migrant workers.

Legal and Paralegal Support is a philanthropic effort of CMIR to provide immediate support for distressed migrant workers and their families. Rescue or immediate support includes a range of services including rescue and legal aid support to distressed migrant workers, especially working in GCC countries and Malaysia, legal aid support to families of distressed migrant workers, immediate health-care and psychosocial counseling and transit-home (safe house) services for distressed migrant workers. CMIR uses its wide-spread relations with national and international line agencies, migrant rights and human rights institutions, regional and global networks, partners, Diaspora group, UN agencies and individuals to operate its rescue and immediate support works.

CMIR supports 400+ distressed and destitute Nepalese migrant workers and their families every year. Realizing the gravity of problem, CMIR has been re-equipping its staffs and members frequently to cope up with the problems that migrant workers have been facing and mobilizing its rescue fund to rescue or provide immediate support to distressed migrant workers through arrangement of return tickets to detained Nepalese migrant workers, provide travel expenses to rescued migrant workers to reach their home, facilitate to bringing back dead bodies, rescue of domestic workers, immediate health-care and psychological counseling to injured and migrant workers having severe health problems and others. Services offered from CMIR are absolutely free for migrant workers and their families.

View our Legal and Paralegal Support Reports 

Let us help to support many distressed Nepalese migrant workers.

Support our ‘Legal and Paralegal Project’.

 

8

Years

2300+

Legally Supported

50+

Information Materials developed

30+

Research, Policy papers and Articles published

40+

Interns/fellows from 10 countries and 16 universities benefited