National 5 (Spotlight Weekly)

Series Of Setbacks

The strongest pillar of nation’s economy – overseas remittance – could weaken in the face of a series of crisis haunting it

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

A series of incidents over the past few weeks could severely bleed the overseas employment sector – the only booming area that is holding the country’s economy together at a time when the country is embroiled in bloody conflict.

The Korea controversy, Iraq hostage crisis, stranded Nepalese workers in Mumbai and now the death of three Nepalese in Afghan blasts could all hurt this sector.

Recently, the Korean federation, which had provided the quota for Nepalese workers, has stated that the Nepal government needs to allow the Lumbini Overseas Manpower Agency to choose the candidates. The Labor Ministry had imposed lottery draw system for the selection claiming it would make the process (of selection) transparent and fair. Even the Supreme Court had approved the government decision.

With the latest development, Nepal could end up losing the quota for 500 workers for South Korea – one of the most lucrative overseas employment destinations.

The unfolding drama of Iraq hostage crisis is taking another heavy toll on this sector. Despite the best possible efforts by the Foreign Ministry, the fate of 12 Nepalese hostages remains uncertain till August 31. They were taken hostage by an Islamist extremist group called Army of Al Sunna.

The foreign ministry has already mobilized resources at its disposal including the missions in Pakistan and Qatar to end this crisis. The government has broadcast its appeal through the Doha-based Al Jazeera television.

It has also requested the Iraqi religious clerics and tribal chiefs to help effect the release of Nepalese hostages. On August 27, an influential Iraqi Sunni cleric Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Ghafoor al-Samree, president of Sunni Awqaf, made a fervent appeal to the Islamic outfit to free the 12 saying “Nepalese are peace loving people.”

However, given the prolonged nature of similar hostage crisis faced by other countries including India, there are few reasons to get excited.

As a fall-out of the hostage crisis, the government has already restricted the Nepalese workers from even going to Iraq’s neighboring countries like Kuwait and Jordan amid reports that many Nepalese travel to Iraq from these countries lured by attractive salaries and/or coercion of manpower agents. “This reflects the weakness on the part of the government. Instead of strictly monitoring the travel of Nepalese workers to Kuwait and Jordan, the government has imposed restrictions,” said Nirmal Gurung, president of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA). Moreover, the interim government of Iraq arrested other 14 Nepalese workers on charges that they entered the country illegally.

These moves could result in the reduction of the number of Nepalese workers going to the Gulf countries – the primary overseas working destination.

The news of over 10,000 Nepalese workers en route to Iraq for work in Mumbai of India has also dampened the situation. While reports say some of them have already started returning home, their actual situation is still sketchy as the government has kept mum on this issue.

The tragic deaths of three Nepalese in bomb blasts in Afghan capital Kabul this week, too, has come as another bloody blow. Hundreds of Nepalese are said to be working in Afghanistan.

The sequence of the events has resulted in a difficult environment for overseas manpower agencies, too. The government has already raided the office of a couple of them. “It is true that some manpower agencies are duping the innocent Nepalese workers. They should be punished. But the government should carefully weigh the consequences and act against only those who are guilty,” said a manpower agent.

Economists, planners and experts agree that the overseas remittances were the major factor contributing to the financial stability in the country amid violent conflict. The remittances have grown by over 30 percent in the last few years to reach almost one billion dollar a year.

Besides, the country has no alternative to promoting the foreign employment till it can provide the opportunities back home. Among the total Nepalese population of 23.1 million, 47 percent (around 11 million) are underemployed. Underemployment is the state where if you put out the additional labor force from a particular household, there will be no change in productivity. Likewise, there are 1.5 million people, mostly youths, who are totally unemployed. This is a big number and in absence of economic growth this figure is likely to increase in coming days.

Every year Nepalese youths between 300,000 to 350,000 enter the job market. Only ten percent of them are absorbed in the domestic market. More than 100,000 of these leave the country in search of jobs and the rest remain here.