View of a Mauritian coastal town.
KATHMANDU: Recruitment companies have been found charging Nepali workers up to Rs 1 million for jobs in Mauritius.
Due to the government’s failure to set a cost ceiling, manpower companies and individuals are sending workers to Mauritius after collecting exorbitant fees.
Ramit Thapa Magar from Sitapaila, Kathmandu, is preparing to leave for Mauritius after paying Rs 1 million to a recruitment company. Magar, who declined to name the company, is going to Mauritius to work as a bus driver. He applied for the job in February.
According to Magar, he has been promised a monthly salary of Rs 160,000, along with food and accommodation benefits.
Raman Limbu from Taplejung flew to Mauritius last week through Airking Manpower Pvt. Ltd. after paying Rs 840,000. He too has been promised a job as a bus driver with a salary of Rs 140,000.
Manpower companies are charging workers arbitrary fees for jobs in Mauritius. Gurudatta Subedi, the information officer at the Department of Foreign Employment, stated that they receive daily complaints from victims cheated by manpower agencies and individuals promising jobs in Mauritius. He said that since the government has not set a cost ceiling for workers going to African and European countries, middlemen and companies are exploiting workers.
“Efforts are being made to control the fraud happening to workers going to countries like Mauritius. The government needs to set a cost ceiling for workers going to such countries. This will solve the problem of fraud,” Subedi added.
While it is easier to control institutional fraud, providing justice to individual victims remains challenging, according to Subedi.
Recruitment companies claim that problems persist because the government hasn’t set a cost ceiling despite having a labor agreement with Mauritius. Dik Bahadur Chhetri, first vice president of the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies, said the cost of sending workers to Mauritius, as well as African and European countries, is high. “But it does not cost Rs 1 million that some companies are allegedly collecting,” he said. “It costs more to send workers to Mauritius, Europe, and African countries. But it shouldn’t cost Rs 1 million. It shouldn’t cost more than Rs 300,000.”
According to Chhetri, middlemen sending workers on individual visas may be exploiting workers.
Number of Workers Rising
According to the Department of Foreign Employment, 587 youths went to Mauritius for employment in July 2023, and another 820 in August. The number also includes youths who secured jobs for themselves through middlemen.
In fiscal year 2021/22, only 536 youths left for employment in Mauritius. This number swelled to 7,397 in 2022/23.
Labour Agreement Has Expired
Nepal and Mauritius signed a labor agreement in May 2019, but the agreement expired a year ago.
As per the agreement, employers in Mauritius were to bear all expenses starting from worker selection. Mauritius had signed the agreement to source Nepali workers for its hotel, tourism, and manufacturing industries.
The labor agreement includes provisions such as providing salaries and benefits no less than the minimum wage of Mauritian citizens, non-discrimination in wages, overtime allowances, work environment, and access to justice. It also mentions arrangements for sending workers through direct coordination between Mauritian employers and Nepali employment agencies.
The agreement also establishes the right of workers who have gone to Mauritius for employment to hire a lawyer for judicial remedies and the right to free legal remedies.
There has been no initiative from either government to renew the labor agreement.
