PRABHAKAR GHIMIRE
KATHMANDU, Oct 22: The Malaysian government has decided to deport foreign workers, including those from Nepal, if the employer companies concerned fail to show up at the airport to receive them within 72 hours of their arrival.
Foreign employment agents said the fresh move by Malaysia -- the most popular destination for Nepali workers -- comes against the backdrop of a growing number of workers being stranded at the airport as no representative of the employer company is there to receive them.
Hitherto, the Malaysian authorities used to send foreign workers to deportation camps for seven days if they remained stranded at the airport for 72 hours. They would then be deported to their countries of origin.
“This move by the Malaysian government will discourage fraudulent manpower agents who are responsible for job seekers remaining stranded at the airport for days, ultimately prompting the authorities to deport them,” Kumud Khanal, general secretary of the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA), told Republica.
Khanal, who is also coordinator of manpower agencies sending workers to Malaysia, said the Immigration Department of Malaysia enforced the new rule from Monday, mainly to discourage fraudulent Nepali manpower agencies and Malaysian agencies that fail to make arrangements for receiving job-seekers at the airport, thereby leaving the airport overcrowded with stranded workers.
The growing trend of Nepali recruiting agencies defaulting on the commission to be paid to Malaysian agencies and erroneous communication between Nepali and Malaysian agencies about the workers´ arrival time in Malaysia have been leaving the workers in difficulties at the airport.
Nepalese ambassador to Malaysia Rishi Adhikari said the fresh move by the Malaysian government is positive for discouraging unethical activities by Nepali and Malaysian recruiting agencies.
“This decision of the Malaysian government is a positive step in minimizing troubles for workers in the coming days. However, there should be proper arrangements for the required funds for deporting stranded workers,” said Adhikari.
He said about 150 Nepalis are camped at some half a dozen deportation centers, waiting to be deported from Malaysia, which has over 400,000 Nepali workers.
As per the existing practice in some host countries, the airlines concerned have to bring the deportees back to the country of origin and seek fare refund from the manpower agencies concerned through their general sales agents.
Meanwhile, the Nepali mission in Malaysia has stated that the Malaysian government has formally stopped issuing calling visas for Nepali workers to discourage the trend of workers changing employers after landing in Malaysia. Under the calling visas, workers can get their visas upon arrival at the airport in accordance with the list of workers provided by the employer companies.
However, workers cannot easily change their employers in Malaysia as the name of the employer is clearly mentioned in the visa stamped by the Malaysian embassy in Nepal.
A recent letter undersigned by Labor Attaché to Malaysia Surya Bhandari stated that the minimum remuneration fixed by the Nepal government for workers going to Malaysia has created problems at some empoloyer companies as Malaysian employers are in favor of determination remuneration under the open market system.
Though the Nepal government has fixed a minimum salary of 546 ringgit per month, Malaysian employers are providing 481ringgit to the workers, inviting protests by workers at some companies. One ringit is about 22 rupees.
Myrepublicanews
KATHMANDU, Oct 22: The Malaysian government has decided to deport foreign workers, including those from Nepal, if the employer companies concerned fail to show up at the airport to receive them within 72 hours of their arrival.
Foreign employment agents said the fresh move by Malaysia -- the most popular destination for Nepali workers -- comes against the backdrop of a growing number of workers being stranded at the airport as no representative of the employer company is there to receive them.
Hitherto, the Malaysian authorities used to send foreign workers to deportation camps for seven days if they remained stranded at the airport for 72 hours. They would then be deported to their countries of origin.
“This move by the Malaysian government will discourage fraudulent manpower agents who are responsible for job seekers remaining stranded at the airport for days, ultimately prompting the authorities to deport them,” Kumud Khanal, general secretary of the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA), told Republica.
Khanal, who is also coordinator of manpower agencies sending workers to Malaysia, said the Immigration Department of Malaysia enforced the new rule from Monday, mainly to discourage fraudulent Nepali manpower agencies and Malaysian agencies that fail to make arrangements for receiving job-seekers at the airport, thereby leaving the airport overcrowded with stranded workers.
The growing trend of Nepali recruiting agencies defaulting on the commission to be paid to Malaysian agencies and erroneous communication between Nepali and Malaysian agencies about the workers´ arrival time in Malaysia have been leaving the workers in difficulties at the airport.
Nepalese ambassador to Malaysia Rishi Adhikari said the fresh move by the Malaysian government is positive for discouraging unethical activities by Nepali and Malaysian recruiting agencies.
“This decision of the Malaysian government is a positive step in minimizing troubles for workers in the coming days. However, there should be proper arrangements for the required funds for deporting stranded workers,” said Adhikari.
He said about 150 Nepalis are camped at some half a dozen deportation centers, waiting to be deported from Malaysia, which has over 400,000 Nepali workers.
As per the existing practice in some host countries, the airlines concerned have to bring the deportees back to the country of origin and seek fare refund from the manpower agencies concerned through their general sales agents.
Meanwhile, the Nepali mission in Malaysia has stated that the Malaysian government has formally stopped issuing calling visas for Nepali workers to discourage the trend of workers changing employers after landing in Malaysia. Under the calling visas, workers can get their visas upon arrival at the airport in accordance with the list of workers provided by the employer companies.
However, workers cannot easily change their employers in Malaysia as the name of the employer is clearly mentioned in the visa stamped by the Malaysian embassy in Nepal.
A recent letter undersigned by Labor Attaché to Malaysia Surya Bhandari stated that the minimum remuneration fixed by the Nepal government for workers going to Malaysia has created problems at some empoloyer companies as Malaysian employers are in favor of determination remuneration under the open market system.
Though the Nepal government has fixed a minimum salary of 546 ringgit per month, Malaysian employers are providing 481ringgit to the workers, inviting protests by workers at some companies. One ringit is about 22 rupees.
Myrepublicanews
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