Nepali foreign employment agencies say that over 1,000 work visas already issued by Bahrain have become useless there is no sign of the government lifting the ban anytime soon. Some more working visas issued by a couple of other Gulf countries in recent months, too, have become useless. [break]
Hansa Raj Wagle, the vice president of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA), says that those Gulf countries that have issued visas for Nepali workers may give the work to workers from other countries if the ban continues for long.
"Though these working visas will be valid for six months, Gulf-based employers will surely not wait for Nepali workers for that long," Wagle said. "We, therefore, ask the government for a new assessment of the latest situation in Gulf countries. We should not wait to lift the ban if the countries are safe for our workers."
Narayan Parajuli, the director of Prudential Manpower Agency, says that they are facing an immense pressure from Gulf-based employers who want workers dispatched soon. "They have threatened us that they will not take our workers if we kept lingering," he said. Parajuli´s agency alone has obtained over 175 working visas, which have now become useless.
"Apart from those who have already acquired work visas, over 200 workers were in the final process for leaving the country," Parajuli said. "They are frustrated." According to him, some workers, mainly those from remote villages, have been staying in lodges in Kathmandu clinging on to fast-fading hope of the ban going. Some have already returned to their villages, he said.
Ram Gurung, a resident of Pokhara-11, was about to fly to Bahrain. "My family had already bid me farewell," Gurung said. "I could not fly at last minute." It has been more than two months since Gurung remains stuck.
With a wave of protest sweeping through Gulf countries following the successful uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) had stopped issuing final approval of working visas issued by various Gulf countries -- Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Oman. In the aftermath of devastating tsunami, the DoFE has recently imposed a temporary ban on Nepali workers´ entry to Japan.
Kashi Nath Marasini, Director of the DoFE, says it is still uncertain when will the ban on restive Gulf countries go. "We will not revoke the ban unless our embassies write to us, saying that there is no danger for our workers anymore," Marasini says. "As far as we know, it is still not an appropriate time to lift the ban. Though there are no fresh protests, a state of emergency still exists in Bahrain."
However, NAFEA urges the government authorities to not assess the situation of Gulf countries from Nepal. "The opinion that government authorities make by reading newspapers may not necessarily be true," Wagle says, adding, "Despite protests, it would still be safe for us to send our workers because protesters have not targeted migrant workers in most of the strife-torn countries in the Gulf. The government should rethink its decision."
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