KATHMANDU, July 28: The government is all set to lift a seven-year ban on the Iraqi job market for Nepalis after a few days of ground work, considering that over 30,000 Nepali workers are at risk of losing their jobs following a demand by the US CENTCOM Contracting Command that they legalize their status.
“We have completed final preparations to lift the ban on Wednesday after consultations today (Tuesday) with the prime minister and the foreign minister,”Labor Minister Mohammad Aftab Alam told myrepublica.com on Tuesday.
Minister Alam said the US Embassy in Kathmandu has also given assurances of ensuring the continued stay of Nepali workers in Iraq once Nepal lifts the standing ban on their working in that strife-ridden Gulf country.
The US CENTCOM Contracting Command had given an ultimatum to more than 30,000 Nepalis working under it to prove the legality of their stay or leave the country by August 9, prompting the Nepal government to initiate the process of granting them legal status.
“We have completed final preparations to lift the ban for the maximum welfare of those working in Iraq,” Purna Chandra Bhattarai, spokesperson at the Ministry of Labor and Transport Management (MoLTM), told myrepublica.com Tuesday.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) also had given written suggestions Tuesday to MoLTM to withdraw the ban as soon as possible. Officials of both ministries on Tuesday discussed lifting the ban that has been in place since the merciless killing of 12 Nepali workers in Iraq by Islamic militants in 2004.
However, Bhattarai also indicated that the government wouldn´t issue permission to new workers for Iraq without assessing the security situation and remuneration there besides directing the Nepali missions to deal effectively with the issues of Nepalis in Iraq. “We need to make lengthy preparations before reopening Iraq for Nepalis,” he added.
Nepal has already expressed its readiness to the US to review its ban on the export of Nepali workers to Iraq and to take necessary measures to legalize their status in that country if they are allowed to continue their stay beyond the August 9 deadline.
Officials at MoFA said the US embassy in Kathmandu has also assured of a situation in which no Nepali workers under US command would have to return home if the Nepal government decides to grant them legal status.
Dr Shankar Sharma, Nepalese ambassador to the US, told myrepublica.com on Tuesday that US officials have responded positively to a request for prompt resolution of the issue during a high level meeting with them.
The US Contracting Command on July 20 issued a warning to illegal Nepalis and Filipinos to quit Iraq within 20 days.
A ban on the Iraqi job market has been in place since 2004 after the killing of 12 Nepalis sparked massive vandalization of manpower agencies by outraged people in Kathmandu.
However, lured by handsome salaries, a huge number of Nepali workers continued to go to Iraq through illegal channels despite the ban and introduction of passports bearing a tag that reads "not valid for travel to Iraq".
Government officials say that the workers first reach a country neighboring Iraq before being trafficked into Iraq through the involvement of Nepali manpower agents.
The Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) and the Foreign Employment Promotion Board (FEPB) had already asked manpower agencies to cooperate with the government to repatriate the workers to the countries of their former employers.
Source: http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=21527
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