NEPAL: Women Workers Face Harassments

Nepali women migrant workers (WMWs) are more vulnerable to overseas job-related risks than men because of their poor access to skill trainings and job information. Around 22 per cent women are facing harassment in workplace, said Manju Gurung, president of Paurakhi, a non-governmental organisation working for safe migration.

Women work in unorganised sectors and their rights are not guaranteed in destination countries, she said. Over 80 per cent Nepali women work as housemaids and they are treated as slaves in Gulf countries. Labour laws in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain do not protect the rights of housemaids.

Around 2,00,000 Nepali women are believed to be working in the country and most of them have used illegal channels to go there. Only 23,000 Nepali women are documented in the government's migration register. Job-related risks are destroying their dreams of working abroad.

A study commissioned by UN Women shows that 16 per cent Nepali women are returning home empty-handed following exploitation in workplaces. Overwhelming exploitation or even sexual abuse from employers had compelled three dozen women to commit suicide in Gulf countries 2010.

In 2009, 15 Nepali women had committed suicide in Lebanon alone. The government and donor agencies are considering to raise awareness level of overseas job-seeking women. We are planning effective programmes that can help safe migration for rural women, said Saru Joshi Shrestha, South Asia Coordinator of UN Women.

“Without reaching the poor, rural women, the problem can not be minimised,” she said. She urged local governments (Village Development Committees) to spend on safe migration. She demanded employment opportunities for women in the country to reduce illegal/undocumented migration.

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Labour and Transport Management (MoLTM) said undocumented migration is the major challenge. The government has opened Gulf countries for women in November but their migration is still continuing, he said. “So, MoLTM is taking tough measures to stop the trend,” he said. According to him, MoLTM is introducing new regulation for outsourcing agencies with mandatory registration of their agents. The government studies have indicated that outsourcing agents are individually engaged in promotion of the illegal migration. Paurakhi handed over a training manual designed to empower returnee WMWs to the government.

Paurakhi's president Manju Gurung handed over the training manual including instructor guideline to the Secretary of Ministry of Labour and Transport Management Dinesh Hari Adhikari at a function on Wednesday. Paurakhi has developed the training manual through a pilot project supported by UN Women. The project has provided entrepreneur skill training to 600 women returned from overseas jobs.

1,300 Nepalis seek amnesty

Hundreds of Nepalis working illegally in Kuwait have responded to the state pardon within a month. According to the Nepali embassy in Kuwait, 1,300 Nepalis men and women have applied for travel documents to return to the country. Over 1,000 have already taken travel documents from the embassy, it said. Of 45,000 Nepalis working in the host country, 4,000 are believed to be working illegally. Kuwait government has announced amnesty to 60,000 illegal foreign workers provided they leave the country before June 30.