Kathmandu, August 18
The number of complaints registered at the Department of Foreign Employment, demanding justice has exceeded 36,000.
These complaints were filed by workers who were cheated during foreign employment, stranded abroad, or denied work and salary as per their contracts. However, such a large volume of complaints has yet to be resolved.
According to Kamal Prasad Bhattarai, Director General of the department, complaints have been pending since 2007. He said that around 200 new complaints are being added to the department daily.
In the last fiscal year 2024/25, alone, 1,822 complaints were filed under relief and rescue, 5,632 at the legal division, and 5,337 at the police division.
Among these, 979 were resolved under relief and rescue, 528 at the legal division, and 4,876 at the police division. The police division within the department premises appears to have been handling its responsibilities at a faster pace.
“We have complaints dating back to 2007,” said Bhattarai. “We only have a limited number of staff to handle such a large number of complaints, which is causing delays in the process.”
To manage this backlog of complaints and ensure faster justice for victims, the department has advanced a new work plan.
According to Bhattarai, old complaints will be settled in a phased manner.
“We are preparing to start by prioritizing complaints from 2013 onwards. In the first phase, we will conclude cases from 2007 to 2013, and then gradually move towards those from 2015, 2018, up to the present,” he said.
Bhattarai also mentioned that efforts are underway to amend some Nepalis laws to make foreign employment–related laws time-relevant and simplify processes. After legal reforms, the department expects the case-handling process to become quicker and easier.
The department has also promoted the use of technology to make service delivery smoother and more transparent. At present, foreign employment-related complaints can be filed online, removing the compulsion for victims to physically come to the department. However, delays in complaint resolution have left thousands of workers and their families waiting for justice for years.
The department had previously made various efforts to resolve complaints. In the last fiscal year, 979 complaints were resolved. But compared to the daily increasing number of complaints, the rate of resolution seems very slow. Preventing fraud in foreign employment and ensuring timely justice for victims has become the department’s major challenge.
The department has emphasized developing a victim-friendly justice system by ensuring that complaints are filed based on truth and facts, while internalizing the accepted principles, values, and standards of law. According to Bhattarai, case registration, investigation, and prosecution have been made more effective.
He added that apart from judicial service staff, officers from other services within the department have also been designated as investigation officers to conduct investigations and prosecutions.
To make the legal and investigation division more effective, management reforms have been introduced, along with the establishment of a separate physical structure for investigation and legal matters, focusing on complaint resolution.
Plans after amending the act
The Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Social Security is preparing to amend the Foreign Employment Act. The amendment aims to decentralize cases related to foreign employment.
The most significant but controversial proposal is to change the jurisdiction of cases under Section 43, which deals with personal fraud. Since it often takes years for the department to resolve such cases, the government has proposed that investigations of personal fraud cases be carried out by the police and adjudication be done by the district courts.
Currently, the Department of Foreign Employment handles the investigation of such cases. But with the planned amendment, personal fraud cases will be sent to district courts.
Labor law expert Advocate Som Luitel said that although handing over fraud investigations to the police is positive, taking hearings to district courts would be a regressive move.
“In the past, when cases were handled at district courts, they were not effective, and the process was lengthy,” Luitel said. “Currently, 92 percent of the decisions made by the Foreign Employment have been upheld by the Supreme Court, which shows its effectiveness.”
He suggested that since the nature of fraud is the same, both personal (Section 43) and institutional (Section 44) fraud investigations should be handed to the police, but adjudication should remain with the tribunal.
Instead of scrapping the tribunal, he argued, access could be expanded by establishing a “Foreign Employment Bench” at provincial high courts, in line with the Supreme Court’s order.
At present, cases investigated through the Department of Foreign Employment and the police are adjudicated by the Foreign Employment Tribunal located in Babarmahal.
