Govt to provide compensation to 11 Nepali returnees from Kuwait

PRABHAKAR GHIMIRE

KATHMANDU, Oct 4: The government has decided to provide compensation to 11 Nepali job seekers, who were deported to Nepal by Kuwaiti immigration officials in suspicion of being Bangladeshi citizen.

A meeting of the Foreign Employment Promotion Board (FEPB) on Monday decided to form a committee comprising officials of FEPB and Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) to ascertain the amount of compensation to the returnees.

“Keeping in view the loss they suffered due to their unexpected return from Kuwait, we have decided to provide them compensation by calculating the amount they spent while processing for Kuwaiti jobs, two way airfares and cost to return home,” a member of the board told Republica on Wednesday. Three Nepali manpower agencies including Bhandari Overseas had arranged jobs in the construction sector in Kuwait around three months ago. They were immediately returned to Nepal after immigration officials in Kuwait airport suspected them of being Bangladeshi job seekers. Similarly, the meeting has also decided to significantly increase the remuneration of the executive director of FEPB to Rs 80,000 per month from existing Rs 25,000. The meeting also decided to immediately initiate the process to appoint the executive director at FEPB which has remained vacant after the death of then executive director Sthaneshowre Devekota few months back. Meanwhile, FEPB is preparing to organize an international conference of business people of six major labor destinations of Nepali workers in the Gulf countries by December this year. The FEPB member said representatives from chambers of commerce and industry of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman and Kuwait will be invited at the proposed conference to seek their support for greater employment opportunities to Nepali youths in those destinations. “We will also ask for their assistance to enhance the skills of Nepali job seekers through vocational trainings. We will also request them to increase remuneration of Nepali workers in those destinations,” said the member. Meanwhile, a delegation from Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA) met Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai on Tuesday to appraise the existing problems seen in foreign employment sector. Bhattarai urged recruiting agencies to support the government to minimize anomalies in the sector.
Published on 2012-10-04 02:07:23