PRABHAKAR GHIMIRE
KATHMANDU, Feb 8: Ambassadors of Malaysia and Qatar have approached the government to recruit Nepali workers as housemaids and security guards in their respective countries.

New Delhi-based Qatari envoy Hassan M Rafee Al-Emaidi, who is also overseeing Nepal, has expressed the Qatari government´s readiness to accept more Nepali workers as security guards, keeping in view the experience and skills of retired Nepal Army and Nepal Police personnel.


Though more than 450,000 Nepalis are working in Qatar, only a few of them work as security guards.

“The Qatari envoy has praised the works of Nepali workers as security guards and have requested us to send more guards to cater to the increasing demand there,” Babu Ram Acharya, secretary at the Ministry of Labor and Transport Management (MoLTM) told myrepublica.com on Sunday.

During the meeting with the Qatari envoy, Minister for Labor and Transport Management Mohammad Aftab Alam requested the Qatar government to set up a training center in Nepal to produce more skilled and trained workers. 

Acharya said the Qatari envoy was also positive on setting up the embassy or consular office of Qatar in Nepal to facilitate Nepali workers leaving for Qatar.

The number of workers leaving for Qatar in the last months has reached 28,448 -- the third largest number after Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.

Officials of both the countries have also agreed to form a joint committee as envisaged in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 2005.

Similarly, Malaysian Ambassador to Nepal Dato Ilankovan Kolanavelu has said that Malaysia could hire Nepali women in domestic help sector.

“The Malaysian envoy has offered Nepal to hire Nepali domestic helps in Malaysia where domestic help sector also falls under legal framework,” said Acharya.

During the meeting with Acharya, Kolanavelu also assured Malaysian assistance to impart training to Nepali workers on language, culture and basic information about their works.

A total of 35,940 Nepalis have left for Malaysia during the last six months.

On the occasion, Nepali officials asked the Malaysian envoy to expedite the process of signing labor pact between the both countries.

“We have asked the Malaysian envoy to prioritize signing of MoU between the two countries to ensure smooth sending process for Nepali youths and initiate the process for receiving Nepali home maids until the pact is signed,” said Acharya.

According to conservative estimate, about 400,000 Nepalis are working in different sectors, mainly manufacturing, construction, security and service sectors, in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, the MoLTM has requested the Ministry of Foreign Affair to initiate diplomatic efforts regarding the offers made by the envoys with the officials of concerned countries. 


Source: myrepublica.com