Nepal

Foreign Employers, Local Agents Prey on Nepali Workers

Foreign Employers, Local Agents Prey on Nepali Workers

KATHMANDU, NEPAL -- “My boss often thrashes me for no cause. My cheeks are swollen and my nose bleeds often. Father, please rescue me and save my life.” Gyan Bahadur reads aloud from a letter he received from his son, Gopal, who is on a contract, working abroad as many Nepali men do.

The letter prompted Gyan, 50, who lives in the eastern hilly district Okhaldhunga, to come to Kathmandu and appeal to local authorities about the plight of his son who is working in Malaysia,.

When he arrived in the capital, Gyan went to the Labor Ministry, the Labor Department, the manpower agency and various local organizations to try, he said, to save his son. Showing the letter with tears in his eyes in the office of the Chief of the Labor Department in Kathmandu, he asked the chief, Keshar Bahadur Baniya, “Sir, please do your bit to help my son return to Nepal.”

Gyan said his pleas were ignored and all he received were hollow assurances. “I have drawn the attention of all the concerned offices about my son’s plight, but nobody has taken note of it,” he says.

Like many young Nepali men, Gopal had a dream of earning money and having a strong career. But because of his family’s poor financial status, Gyan says he was forced to send his son to work abroad. Several months earlier, one of Gopal’s friends found a job working in Qatar and suggested that he also look for a job there. Working with a “manpower agent,” who promised him a handsome salary, he decided to go to Malaysia. Gopal was assured he would make a strong living, with enough money to send large sums home to his family in Nepal.

However, as soon as he reached his new work place in Malaysia, he realized that he had been lured by false promises. Gopal worked as a construction laborer. His employer refused to pay him the salary he was promised and began physically assaulting him soon after he arrived.

“Whatever promises were made, they all went unfulfilled. He [the employer] hasn’t paid us salary for two months and often we were beaten up for no cause,” the letter from Gopal says.

Gopal told his father that he and his coworkers do not speak Bahasa Melayu, the local language, so they have had difficulties communicating with the local authorities. One recent letter from Gopal reads, “Even when I tried to make phone calls to Nepal, the owner threatened to beat me.”

Gopal is one among thousands of Nepali workers who go abroad with a hope of earning a living and helping to pay off family debts back home. Labor Ministry records reveal that as many as 700 Nepalis go abroad for jobs everyday. More than 100,000 Nepali workers left the country to work in foreign countries between July 2008 through mid-January 2009.

Experts say that because Nepal is one of the world’s most impoverished countries, in part due to the recent armed conflicts and political instability, many men seek work abroad. Of the 1.2 million Nepalis working abroad, most work in Gulf countries. More than 400,000 are registered workers in Malaysia alone.

However, the government data only tracks the migrant workers who went abroad after gaining government approval. There is no record of those who gain employment abroad by working with agents or intermediary countries. Experts say the number of Nepalis working abroad is likely much higher.

Injury and Death Abroad

Foreign employment expert Ganesh Bahadur Gurung says the actual number of Nepalis working abroad could exceed 12 million. “Many Nepalis are [currently] working in the countries that have been banned for foreign employment such as Iraq and Afghanistan,” he adds.

The issue of the dangerous and abusive conditions some Nepalis find working abroad first came to light in 2004 when 12 Nepali men, who were working as cooks and cleaners in Iraq for a Jordanian firm, were taken hostage and beheaded on film.

Santosh Dahal, a section officer in the Labor Department, says that he is well aware of abuse complaints generating from the foreign employment sector.

“Daily, dozens of complaints are filed at the Labor Department,” says Dahal. “However, we lack the evidence to punish those accused.”

The Journal of Nepalese Business Studies estimates that remittances, or money sent from people working abroad, account for more than 10 percent of the gross domestic product of Nepal each year. As more Nepali men accept position in risky posts, the number of workers who die abroad is skyrocketing.

According to the Foreign Ministry, more than a dozen Nepali men die in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Malaysia from work related accidents each month. “Nepalis face vulnerable life abroad. They are subjected to work menial jobs requiring hard physical labor. Thus, many workers die,” says the Chief of the Nepal Foreign Employment Victims’ Association, Ishwor Prasai.

Some 700 Nepalis died in Gulf countries in 2008 and the number succumbing to various accidents is on the rise, says Foreign Ministry representative Rajendra Pandey. “We receive news of at least one Nepali’s death every day and we lack data on injured workers,” he adds.

Among those who died abroad is the husband of Ful Maya Bishwokarma, 26, of Baglung, a western district of Nepal. Ful Maya, who was expecting money from her husband Karna Bishwokarma after he went to Malaysia, heard the news of her husband's death five months after he died. Karna, who was employed by an electrical company died after being electrocuted on the job, according to the letter sent by a friend to Ful Maya. She memorized one of her husband’s first letters, in which he wrote, “Now I am set to earn good money. First, I will earn to pay off the loan, then I will fulfill your every wish.” She also quotes from the next letter she received, it read, “Come to receive your husband’s corpse.”

But Pandey says it is not easy to bring the corpses back to Nepal. It costs as much as 500,000 rupees, or nearly $6,800, to bring a body home. Pandey claims that companies hesitate to send bodies home if the person dies in an industrial accident or an accident disguised as abuse.

Man Power Agents Accused of Widespread Fraud

Many families whose husbands and sons have gone to work abroad, also claim to be victims of widespread fraud that occurs before loved ones even leave the country. Man power agents charge as a much as 90,000 rupees, or $1,200, to Nepali men seeking work in places like the United Arab Emirates, but many end up paying well over $2,000 to secure their jobs, says Prasai. “Cases of cheating are rampant. And many youths who mortgage their home have been victimized,” he adds.

Unfortunately, as is often the case in a politically turbulent country like Nepal, laws exist on the books to insure fraud victims and punish those responsible, but enforcement remains minimal. “With the lack of enforcement and awareness of the provisions the victims are yet to gain benefit. The general public should be aware of the laws and pile pressure on the government to translate the words into action,” says foreign employment expert Gurung.

Madan Mahat, the vice president of the Foreign Employment Association admits that he is aware of several agencies involved in forging documents and visas and tarnishing agencies’ image. However, he blames the government for not fulfilling its responsibility to regulate foreign employment sector. “Manpower agencies are uncontrollable here,” he says.

Gopal’s father has not yet reported his son’s case to officials in Malaysia or to officials in Nepal’s embassy there. He did, however, contact the manpower agency that arranged his son’s job abroad. An agent of B.B. International Manpower Company informed Gyan that the money his son paid to secure his employment in Malaysia would not be returned, despite his claims of mistreatment and nonpayment.

Gyan says he was told that his son had no legal option, but to fulfill his three-year contract. No one from the agency returned requests for comment. “I am unsure whether my son will be back home or not. I have thin hope,” Bahadur says.