Malaysian manufacturers’ support sought to resume workers’ supply

Kathmandu, July 5

The country’s foreign employment agencies have urged Malaysian manufacturers to lobby with the Malaysian government to facilitate the process of resuming the recruitment process of Nepali workers to the South East Asian nation which has been halted since almost two months.

The Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA) recently wrote a letter to the Federation of Malaysian Manufactures asking the latter to liaise with the Malaysian government to resume the recruitment of Nepali manpower to Malaysia by omitting the ongoing practice of collecting VLN fees, bestinet bio-metric medical fees, MiGRAMS fees, immigration security fees and one stop centre (OSC) fees.

Amid practice of the Malaysian government charging Rs 700 to endorse working visa for Nepali workers till November 2013, NAFEA has mentioned that different syndicates formed thereafter have added financial burden on Nepali workers resulting in the current halt in supply of manpower from Nepal to Malaysia.

Following the Malaysian government’s decision to close Immigration Security Clearance and OSC for Nepali
migrant workers on May 21 as its operators face government action for levying additional charges, Nepali migrant labourers have been barred from obtaining work permit to Malaysia, a popular labour destination for Nepalis.

Ram Prasad Bhantana, first vice-president of NAFEA, said that the government’s decision to send Nepali workers to Malaysia only after assurance of workers’ safety and job guarantee is admirable. “The Malaysian government should acknowledge this decision of the government and come forward to resolve the issue,” he said.

Malaysian companies and their agents in Nepal like MiGRAMS, health check-up syndicate, OSC, VLN and GSG services had been forcing Nepali workers to pay exorbitant fees for various procedures since 2013.

A Nepali worker wishing to work in Malaysia today has to pay almost Rs 17,000 for visa fee under different headings.

“The current obstruction being faced by Malaysia-bound Nepali workers can be solved only through the government-to-government level initiation. Thus, both governments should actively try resolving the issue soon as Malaysia is one of the major destinations for Nepali workers,” added Bhantana.

However, this obstruction of Malaysia-bound Nepali workers is unlikely to be resolved any time soon as the government seems to be in no mood to send Nepali workers to Malaysia until a bilateral labour pact is signed with the Malaysian government.

Despite Malaysia being a preferred destination for Nepali migrant workers, issues related to low payment and security and safety of workers in Malaysia have been matters of concern over the years, which need to be addressed first, according to officials of the Department of Foreign Employment.