POKHARA: Twenty-two people from Kaski district lost their lives in the course of foreign employment over the first nine months of the fiscal year 2023/24. Similarly, 15 others suffered different types of disabilities and illnesses.
According to a study report prepared by the Foreign Employment Board, Department of Consular Services, and Migrant Resource Centers, out of the 11 districts in Gandaki Province, the highest number of people who lost their lives during foreign employment were from Nawalpur. Baglung ranks second, while Kaski is third.
In 2022/23, a total of 1,208 people who went abroad for employment died, while 335 suffered different forms of disabilities. A total of 771,000 Nepalis obtained labor permits for foreign employment during the year.
According to the reports, 106,044 people, including 10,702 women, from Gandaki Province left for foreign employment in the first nine months of 2023/24. During the period, 12,334 people, including 1,692 women, from Kaski pursued foreign jobs.
Kaski has the highest number of women going for foreign employment from Gandaki Province. However, Tanahun tops the list of districts in the province in terms of the number of people pursuing foreign employment with 16,797 departures during the period. Syangja was next on the list with 15,896 people, including 1,405 women. Baglung ranks third with 13,797 people pursuing foreign employment, including 1,104 women.
Shiva Regmi, the program officer at the Foreign Employment Board, said that the number of people going for foreign employment in the first nine months of the current fiscal year is higher than the same period in the previous fiscal year.
Nepalis can pursue foreign employment in 111 countries through institutional arrangements. Malaysia was the top destination for Nepalis in the review period, while the UAE hosted the most Nepali women.
In recent times, there has been an increasing trend of women going to European countries like Malta, Cyprus, Romania, and Croatia. So far, only 12 countries have signed Bilateral Labor Agreements (BLAs) and Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with Nepal. They are Qatar, Jordan, UAE, Republic of Korea, Bahrain, Israel, Malaysia, Mauritius, the UK, Romania, Japan and Germany.
During the period, Nepal received remittances amounting to Rs 1,220.56 billion, contributing 23.68% to Nepal’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
According to the report, fraud, mainly by middlemen and unregistered recruitment agencies, is Nepal’s biggest challenge in foreign employment. Currently, 972 recruitment companies are registered with the government. Of them, the Department of Foreign Employment has permitted only 32 to operate branch offices. However, unauthorized branch offices of recruitment companies can be found in all major cities inthe country.
