Review Nepal
Kathmandu, Nepal, May 5, 2020: The government has been preparing to evacuate Nepali migrant workers living abroad in a dearth situation owing to the global pandemic of corona virus (COVID-19). As some migrant workers, who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic have urged the government to allow them to return home, the government has been preparing to evacuate in a priority basis.
The government has estimated that at least 35,000 migrant workers have to be evacuated immediately from various labor destinations like, Malaysia, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other gulf countries. It is said that illegal migrant workers have hit hard from the job loss in the foreign land as none of the sector have take their responsibilities.
Foreign Affairs Pradeep Gyawali has said that the government is in the process to evacuate to migrant workers on a probity basis. During a talk with the Labor and Employment Journalists Group, Minister Gyawali said on Monday that the government will evacuate on the basis of the individual’s living condition, job and visa status and the situation of their family.
According to him, the ministry has been coordinating with the concerned countries and asking them to facilitate the process to bring back the Nepali migrant workers who had been staying there illegally in a dearth situation.
Not only the illegal migrant workers, but also the legal migrant workers have also lost their jobs due to the pandemic of corona virus. Likewise, Nepalese students and visitors living abroad have also been seeking government’s help to return back in the country.
Owing to the global pandemic of corona virus, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia have already issued 14-day notices for registration of illegal migrant workers while Kuwait has also taken the registration process forward. It is said that South Korea had also urged the countries concerned including Nepal to bring back the illegal migrant workers.
According to Minister Gyawali, the government has already asked all the Nepalese embassies and missions abroad and the governments of the concerned labor destinations to provide needful assistance like food, shelter and medical treatment to workers who have lost their jobs.
The government is working on a series of measures that involve safe repatriation to their quarantine facilities and employment opportunities in Nepal; he said without elaborating about the concrete date and plan to translate his plan into action.
