Some 200 Myanmar nationals were found to have reached the UAE carrying Nepali passports. This information was revealed during a virtual meeting held on Tuesday by the Department of Immigration with ambassadors from nine countries with a large number of Nepali workers, as well as officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Participants in the discussion included officials from the Department of Immigration, Nepali ambassadors, and labor attachés from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Malaysia, and Thailand, as well as officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Department stated that there was a discussion on bringing those who submitted fake documents to book. According to the Department, the discussion also covered the current situation and trends of Nepalis traveling to other countries on labor and tourist visas for foreign employment, the potential risks that may arise from this, and the future strategies to be adopted for immigration regulations.
The virtual meeting, coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also reportedly included a discussion on the recent Gen-Z movement, its potential impact on foreign employment, and measures to improve Nepal's image abroad.
The topics discussed
- Address the perception of mismanagement in foreign employment: Acknowledge the spirit of the 'Gen-Z' movement and the aspirations of the youth (aged 18-40) who make up the majority of labor migrants, to counter the public perception of poor governance in foreign employment.
- Revise visit visa regulations: Make timely revisions to certain government regulations regarding visit visas that are humiliating to citizens.
- Develop a long-term strategy for labor migration: Emphasize the crucial role of foreign missions in addressing problems related to labor migration.
- Integrate data sharing: Create an integrated system for data sharing between embassies abroad, labor attachés, and the Department of Immigration.
- Enhance system interoperability: Ensure the systems developed by various agencies are interoperable.
- Mandatory insurance for visit visa holders: Make insurance mandatory for Nepalis traveling on a visit visa.
- Establish rescue funds: Create a rescue fund in foreign missions to help individuals in trouble abroad.
- Regulate domestic workers: Draft and implement a law to regulate domestic workers to prevent the alarming trend of informal migration.
- Reinstate Foreign Employment Board representatives: Re-establish the positions for Foreign Employment Board representatives in foreign missions to better manage the sector, as these positions were recently removed.
- Eliminate brokers: Work to bring the influence of brokers in foreign travel and employment to zero.
- Share information to combat illegal migration: Share information to prevent brokers from illegally transporting Nepalis to the UAE via Oman, especially after the UAE tightened its visa regulations.
- Address visa fraud in Kuwait: Highlight how brokers are charging exorbitant prices and defrauding people, despite the ban on visit visas to Kuwait.
- Take action against fake documents: Bring those who submitted fake documents, such as the 200 Myanmar citizens with Nepali passports found in the UAE, to book.
- Tackle the high mortality rate in the UAE: Recognize the UAE as an "epicenter" for Nepali foreign employment, with 25-30 deaths per month, primarily by suicide. Emphasize the need for local-level awareness. Note that 381,000 Nepalis work in the UAE, with 548 in prison, 345 of whom are on drug-related charges.
- Reinstate the labor desk: Re-establish the labor desk at the airport for people traveling on a visit visa.
- Implement mandatory pre-verification: Make pre-verification for departure mandatory at the airport.
- Increase manpower agency accountability: Make manpower agencies more responsible.
- Raise awareness at the local level: Increase awareness about foreign employment from the local level up.
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