Himal Press 
Sharat Singh Bhandari
KATHMANDU: The government is preparing to lift the ban on Nepali women to work as domestic help in Gulf countries and Malaysia.
Minister for Labor, Employment and Social Security, Sharat Singh Bhandari, told Himal Press that the ministry was conducting needful preparation to lift the restriction.
The Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security started preparation after the Industry, Commerce, Labour and Consumer Welfare Committee of the House of Representatives directed the ministry to study the possibility of sending female domestic workers to countries with labor agreements through separate protocols.
Bhandari has held discussions with various agencies under the ministry on this matter, according to his secretariat. He argued that the ban has actually benefited human traffickers. “Despite the ban, the flow of Nepali women working as domestic workers through illegal channels hasn’t stopped,” he added.
The government put the restrictions in 2015 after a parliamentary committee instructed the government stop sending female workers to Gulf countries and Malaysia, citing severe economic mental, and physical exploitation. However, despite the ban, Nepali women have continued to work as domestic help in countries like Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.
Mukunda Niroula, secretary at the ministry, confirmed that the ministry was busy in discussions about allowing Nepali women to work as domestic help in Gulf countries and Malaysia. Niroula also suggested that local governments could be given the responsibility of regulating the deployment of female domestic workers.
Bijaya Rai Shrestha, chairperson of AMKAS Nepal, or the Returnee Women Migrant Workers’ Group, said that the issue of female domestic workers has not been included in the labor agreements the government has signed with various countries over the past two decades.
“Banning female domestic workers was a mistake. This has only led to an increase in trafficking of Nepali women to Gulf countries and Malaysia,” she said. “The ban should be lifted after ensuring 24-hour insurance, job security, and salary guarantees for female workers.”
