SAFE MIGRATION: PREVENTION OF LABOR AND SEXUAL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 002315

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR SA/INS, SA/RA, G/TIP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV ELAB PINS KWMN NP
SUBJECT: SAFE MIGRATION: PREVENTION OF LABOR AND SEXUAL
TRAFFICKING

REF: A. KATHMANDU 638

B. KATHMANDU 553

SUMMARY
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1. (SBU) With dwindling economic prospects stemming from a
decade-long Maoist insurgency, increasing numbers of Nepalese
workers are leaving for other countries in search of safety
and better employment opportunities. The Embassy and USAID
recently gathered representatives from UN agencies and
Nepal's government, INGO and NGO sectors to discuss ongoing
efforts to promote the safe migration of Nepali citizens
domestically and overseas. Government representatives
explained efforts by His Majesty's Government of Nepal (HMGN)
to negotiate bilateral agreements and institute monitoring
mechanisms to prevent abuses, both domestically and overseas.
UN agency, INGO and NGO representatives noted that
migration, and the rising levels of exploitation associated
with it, affect all Nepalese, including youth. A
representative of the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment
Agents (NAFEA) underscored that a coordinated approach is
necessary to stem the tide of labor and sexual exploitation
of Nepalese workers. END SUMMARY.

BACKGROUND: MIGRATION ON THE RISE
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2. (SBU) Nepali citizens have traditionally traveled to
neighboring countries in search of employment or better
opportunities. While Nepal's only labor agreement to date is
with Qatar (ref A),Nepal's export of laborers to India and
third country destinations has been rising steadily. The
most recent statistics from the Department of Labor and
Employment Promotion (DoLEP) indicate that the number of
Nepali workers leaving the country for overseas employment
rose by 50.4 percent during the 2004/05 fiscal year (Note:
Nepal's fiscal year runs from July to July. End note.)
Various "manpower" agencies exported a total of 137,678
Nepali laborers to 15 employment destinations during the last
fiscal year, as compared with 91,540 in 2003/04. The
majority of workers migrated to Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

WHAT IS THE GOVERNMENT DOING?
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3. (SBU) The Embassy and USAID gathered representatives on
October 5 from UN agencies and Nepal's government, INGO and
NGO sectors to discuss efforts to promote the safe migration
of Nepali citizens. Purushotam Ojha, Secretary of the
Ministry of Labor and Transport Management, noted that a lack
of pre-departure information coupled with informal/illegal
migration were the main factors contributing to labor and
sexual exploitation. Indebtedness to middlemen involved in
sending Nepali workers to destination countries often led to
abuses and indentured servitude overseas; for example, the
current "dispatch fee" Nepalis paid to work in Malaysia was
80,000 rupees (USD 1,143),which took most Nepalis up to two
years to repay. A reduction in dispatch costs needed to take
place, Ojha underscored. Ojha admitted that Nepalese
missions abroad did not have sufficient staff to monitor
workplaces to ensure that labor conditions were humane and
contracts were honored. The government needed to establish a
"monitoring mechanism" to track labor conditions for Nepalis
working overseas, Ojha concluded.


4. (SBU) Ojha stated that government measures on safe
migration should be "promotive" rather than "restrictive."
The government was taking a number of steps to support the
safe migration of Nepali workers abroad. In an effort to
safeguard the rights of Nepali workers overseas, the
government in March signed a labor accord with Qatar, home to
the second largest group of expatriate Nepali laborers (ref
A). Similar bilateral accords with other destination
countries were under negotiation, Ojha revealed. The
Ministry of Labor was also developing an amendment to the
Foreign Employment Act and Regulations to reflect current
labor conditions. Ojha noted his Ministry was working with
NGOs and other stakeholders to disseminate information on
safe migration at the field level, particularly to discourage
migration through unofficial or illegal channels. He noted
that there was a need for "partnering" between government
and recruiting agencies to establish a built-in mechanism to
monitor the situation of Nepali workers. A "lot of room for
improvement" remained, Ojha admitted to the group.


5. (SBU) Dr. Ram Hari Aryal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of
Health and Population, added that migration is one component
of population change and an "emerging issue" in
socio-economic sectors. He noted that migration was a
regional issue and safe migration should therefore be
promoted through regional cooperation. "We need good,
substantial policies at the national level," Aryal admitted,
adding that "we're in the process of developing these."
According to Aryal, policies should include protection and
benefits to migrants, pre-departure information, monitoring,
and strengthening of consular services for Nepalis working
abroad. Additional studies were necessary, Aryal
underscored, to determine the extent of the problem,
particularly in relation to the trafficking and smuggling of
migrants. Aryal noted that his Ministry "welcomed ideas"
from NGOs and other sectors for such a survey.

IO'S, INGO'S AND NGO'S: MIGRATION TOUCHES ALL NEPALESE YOUTH
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6. (SBU) The International Labor Organization (ILO)
representative, Pracha Prasat, noted the difficulty in
establishing safe migration programs since many migrants did
not travel through formal channels. Various organizations'
estimates, therefore, were most likely underestimating the
numbers. He noted that the ILO was working on the prevention
side through social mobilizers, radio programs, employment
generation activities, and the non-formal education sector.
The ILO was also partner to HMGN in its National Plan of
Action to combat trafficking in persons, Prasat stated (ref
B),and was planning a series of studies on migration.


7. (SBU) Aruna Thapa, United Nations Development Fund for
Women (UNIFEM) representative, explained the measures her
organization had taken to safeguard the rights of women
workers. Women workers, particularly migrant workers, were
stigmatized in Nepali society. UNIFEM had thus launched a
media campaign to address negative stereotypes of women
workers in Nepalese society, and also to lift a
government-imposed ban on female workers traveling to the
Middle East (Note: This ban has since been lifted. End
note.) UNIFEM had also advocated for, and won, a
government-imposed requirement that recruiting agencies
provide workers with three days of pre-departure orientation.
Thapa noted, and the Labor Ministry's Ojha agreed, that
while the government had done its job in passing this law,
the recruiting agencies were getting around it by selling
certificates of pre-departure training attendance. Thapa
claimed that the feminization of poverty in Nepal (since only
6-10 percent of land was registered in women's names) and the
Maoist conflict resulted in women being "the first to
migrate" in search of work and other opportunities for their
families.


8. (SBU) "Safe migration has touched each and every youth in
the context of the current conflict," Pankaja Bhattarai of
The Asia Foundation (TAF) stated. Bhattarai noted that
because migration was an individual right, it was important
not to restrict it and force it underground, which would make
migrants more vulnerable to exploitation. While TAF's focus
was primarily on urban areas, it worked with local partners
in all seventy-five of Nepal's districts to set up safe
migration counseling booths and provide safe migration
training to Village District Committee (VDC) task forces.
While safe migration was the responsibility of the
government, Bhattarai noted, it was also important to engage
the employment agencies to be more accountable to migrant
workers.


9. (SBU) Although safe migration was an emerging issue in its
own right, other organization representatives noted that
programs promoting safe migration were subsumed within their
anti-trafficking initiatives. The South Asia Regional
Initiative/Equity (SARI/Q),funded by USAID, had recently
conducted a policy workshop on safe migration, which included
an assessment of pre-departure programs and regional resource
materials available for safe migration. Prakash Bhattarai,
Secretary General of Youth Action Nepal (YAN),stated that

SIPDIS
his organization had identified labor migration as a major
issue for Nepalese youth. He noted that Chief District
Officers (CDOs),who issued passports at the district level,
were responsible for providing pre-departure counseling.
Bhattarai revealed that YAN had prepared a study entitled
"Migration of Nepalese for Foreign Employment: Prospects and
Problems," which would be published soon.

THE RECRUITING AGENCIES' PERSPECTIVE
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10. (SBU) Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agents
(NAFEA) representative Tirtha Gurung, stated that his
organization, which represented 450 member companies, was
taking steps to control corruption and labor exploitation.
Middlemen were providing wrong information to workers, Gurung
admitted, and incidents of sexual and other exploitation were
taking place, particularly to those coming out of rural
areas. While NAFEA could investigate complaints directly, it
was also working with UNIFEM, NGOs and INGOs to provide a
unified approach to the increasing incidence of abuse
stemming from the rising numbers of migrants leaving Nepal to
find safety, security, and economic opportunity in the face
of dwindling economic prospects as a result of Nepal's
decade-long Maoist insurgency. The best way to solve the
problem, he continued, was to work with the government, since
the solution lay in increasing the number of bilateral labor
agreements and improving consular services to Nepalese
workers. With Nepalese workers doing so much to help Nepal,
Gurung stated, it was time Nepal did more to help its
workers. (Note: Total remittances represented nearly 12
percent of Nepal's GDP last year. End note.)

COMMENT
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11. (SBU) The right to migrate in search of a better
livelihood or security, particularly in the context of the
Maoist insurgency, must be balanced with Nepal's need to
create a better legal framework that helps prevent the
growing trend of labor and sexual exploitation during
migration. Rising numbers of Nepali citizens are on the
move--from rural to urban areas, and from Nepal to India and
other receiving nations. As economic opportunities dwindle
and security issues rise due to Nepal's ongoing Maoist
insurgency, increasing numbers of migrants are leaving Nepal
in search of security and employment. Safe migration is
therefore becoming an increasingly important issue for the
government, the people, and the donor community in Nepal.
Without a unified approach by government, non-state, and
recruiting agency representatives, labor and sexual
exploitation will continue to be a rising trend.
MORIARTY