Domestic workers will be able to return home

The government has made arrangements for Nepali women domestic workers in different countries to come back home. The Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security (making a ministerial decision) has made arrangements 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 going to the Gulf and other countries as domestic workers, women who have been working in those countries for years could not come home on leave for fear of not being able to return to employment. Minister for Labor Krishna Kumar Shrestha has made arrangements to re-employ the aggrieved women by using the right to remove obstacles as per Article 23 of the Directive on Sending Domestic Workers for Foreign Employment, 2072 BS.

 The coordinating committee formed as per the directive to send domestic workers for foreign employment and the study committee formed by the ministry had also recommended to decide in their favor saying that women working as domestic workers in those countries even before the ban were imposed and later went illegally to visit their families.

 Domestic workers who reached the Gulf without being banned and later went through illegal routes were not able to come as they did not get labor permit after returning to Nepal even though the employer's behavior and income was good. Arrangements have been made to re-employ women who return home on leave after renewing their contract with the previous employer or renew their contract with the previous employer by fulfilling the legal condition and keeping separate records of their employment by the employment and foreign employment office of the concerned country. Since the ban on sending women workers to the Gulf and other countries, women have been going abroad using informal routes. As a result, they are at risk of forced labor and trafficking.

 According to Minister Shrestha, women are more at risk than 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.

The Committee on International Relations and Labor of the Legislature-Parliament had directed to send a complete ban on sending domestic workers to the Gulf and other countries. On the basis of the same directive, the government had banned the sending of domestic workers. Women's rights activists have called for the immediate lifting of the ban, saying domestic workers should not be barred from going abroad. With the ban, workers going to the Gulf illegally are at greater risk.

 There is a problem of rescue and repatriation of illegal migrant workers in case of any problem. The ministry says that a decision will be reached soon after reaching a stakeholder solution.