KATHMANDU, Dec 17: The age limit imposed by the government to ensure the safety of women migrant workers for domestic work during foreign employment has created many challenges. These restrictions have compelled women to choose illegal routes, exposing them to the risk of human trafficking rather than providing protection.
Countries in the Gulf and Malaysia remain closed for Nepali women workers since Nepal, responding to growing cases of exploitation and abuse of Nepali women abroad, stopped issuing work permits to domestic help in July 2016.
On April 5, 2017, the then Labor and Consumer Welfare Committee of Parliament instructed the government not to send domestic workers without guaranteeing safety, and the government of Nepal imposed a ban on domestic workers.
According to the Guidelines for Sending Domestic Workers for Foreign Employment 2074, women willing to work as domestic workers in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, and Malaysia should be at least 24 years old.
Women migrant workers are especially vulnerable to violence and face risks of abusive treatment in many countries of destination.
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After the ban was imposed, there were many discussions, debates, and protests. Questions were also raised at national and international forums. However, the Nepal government has kept the ban on working as domestic workers by moving forward the issues such as guarantee of security, fixed salary, and other benefits.
According to Sadiksha Maharjan, legal officer of Aprabasi Mahila Kamdar Samuha (AMKAS) Nepal, 60 out of 73 women migrant workers rescued and provided shelter by AMKAS Nepal in the last six months had reached different countries of the Gulf through illegal routes.
She informed Republica that out of 73 people rescued, five women were trafficked. Among them, two had been trafficked to Kuwait, one each to Oman and the UAE and one foreign woman from Nepal was rescued and given shelter services at AMKAS Nepal. She added, “This highlights the international dimension of human trafficking and the wide reach of trafficking networks.”
“Due to the government's seven-year ban on women migrants going abroad for domestic work, many women find themselves compelled to travel choosing illegal channels, often passing through countries like India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh lacking legal documentation,” she said, “This restriction of the government to secure the safety of women migrant workers from domestic violence and exploitation has led to a more vulnerable situation than protection.”
Bijaya Shrestha Rai, executive director of AMKAS Nepal, said that it is expected that the Nepal government will cancel it immediately as the policymakers give a positive response to lift the ban on domestic workers, but it has not been implemented yet. “The ban has narrowed women's right to employment depriving them of fundamental human rights,” said Rai.
She added, “AMKAS Nepal is advocating to ratify ILO C189 which stands to make domestic work a decent work ensuring basic labor rights of the workers regarding salary, leave, social security, occupational safety and health, working hours, insurance, additional benefits for additional work which are to be included in the labor contract.”
But officials now acknowledge that the ban, although introduced to prevent women from abuse and exploitation, has failed to achieve its objectives. They say that the ministry is talking with stakeholders on the matter before making further reviews on policies.
On September 29, 2020, the Parliamentary Committee on Commerce, Labor, and Consumer Welfare gave another directive to the government to send domestic workers for foreign employment if seven different conditions are met, after the ban was criticized for causing women workers problems, forcing them to go through unsafe routes and increasing the risk.
But even though the parliamentary committee has given such instructions, the corresponding arrangement has not been implemented.
According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), more than 67 million domestic workers are employed in the world. 80 percent of them i.e. 54 million are women. Thus, some of those who work as domestic workers work full-time and stay at the employer's house, while some go to a house to work for a certain period. But among those who come abroad for employment as domestic workers from Nepal, most of them stay and work in the employer's house.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has urged the government to lift the travel ban on domestic workers to discourage the undocumented and illegal migration from India and ensure informed choices to all equally stating that such restrictive measures were making migrant women more vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation.
According to the NHRC, the discriminatory travel ban is instead pushing women into the hands of human traffickers and agents who smuggle them via undocumented channels. The ban had also limited their access to legal remedies in case of abuse and exploitation.
