Kathmandu, October 14
Nepal and Malaysia have agreed to ink a deal on October 29 to re-open the Malaysian market for Nepali labourers.
This comes months after Labour Minister Gokarna Bista placed a ban on sending Nepali workers to Malaysia after it was revealed that they were coerced to process their documents only through prescribed companies which were fleecing them. News report suggested that the amount totaled to around Rs5 billion over the last five years.
According to sources at the ministry, Malaysia’s Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran is scheduled to arrive in Kathmandu on October 28, a day before the signing ceremony.
As part of the new deal, the Kuala Lumpur has agreed to waive visa fees for Nepali migrant workers. Similarly, recruiters in Malaysia will have to foot expenses incurred by Nepali labourers during their application process. According to sources, Nepali workers will save up to Rs 100,000 each after the deal is implemented.
However, the caveat is that if a Nepali worker fails the medical of immigration clearence test, he/she will not be allowed to go to Malayasia and would also have to foot all the expenses incurred during the process.
The new agreement will shorten the contract period of Nepali migrant workers to two years from the existing three.
