Foreign Employment should be safe and decent

Kathmandu, Oct. 9 . The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has asked the government to make the foreign employment more systematic, safe and decent by protecting the migrants’ rights.

The rights body has further urged the government to bring the Nepali workers who are in a state of coma in different hospitals in the foreign countries, review different acts and laws related to the foreign employment and monitor and review the activities of recruiting agencies and representative agents.

Likewise, the NHRC has recommended the government to make provision for the treatment of the migrant workers in the destination countries and bring the stranded Nepalis back home in a safe and secured manner.

Releasing a study report on its efforts made to safeguard the rights of the migrants on Tuesday, the NHRC has asked the government to immediately bring the dead bodies of Nepalis through a fast track.

Similarly, the NHRC has recommended to amend the Foreign Employment Act, 2007 making trafficking in persons and transportation of human and all types of exploitation taking place in course of foreign employment as a punishable offense and the local police should be given rights to probe and investigate into such incidents.

Likewise, the NHRC has urged to include the ‘trafficking in persons and transportation taking place of labour exploitation’ in the definition of trafficking in persons by amending the Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control) Act, 2007.

NHRC member Sudip Pathak said that the government has been told to include the issues that are accepted universally in the Foreign Employment Act, Immigration Act, Passport Act and other laws, regulations and guidelines.

The report has also recommended the provision of keeping vital documents including passports and others with the migrant workers themselves in the foreign countries by ending the system of dual contract as well as end to discrimination on the women migrants.

The NHRC said that the report was prepared after the literature review and research, stakeholder consultations with the officials of Nepal Government, representatives of the civil society, development partners, former ambassadors, former secretaries and experts in different stages while discussions and meetings were held with the survivors while preparing the report.