Kathmandu, October 30
Nepali manpower agency operators included in Malaysia’s Foreign Worker Centralised Management System (FWCMS) list have gone out of contact after the Department of Foreign Employment launched an investigation into them.
Malaysia had listed 25 Nepali manpower agencies as principal agencies and 250 others as associate agencies under the FWCMS. The arrangement allowed workers to be sent to Malaysia only through these listed agencies.
After the agencies were included in the list, restricting the recruitment and deployment of workers to a select group of manpower companies, the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security directed the department to investigate them.
Acting on the directive, the department sought explanations from the agencies. It subsequently appointed investigation officers to conduct further inquiries into the 25 principal agencies and summoned their operators to record statements.
The department had also obtained permission from the Foreign Employment Tribunal to arrest the operators of the 25 manpower agencies. Acting on this authorisation, police arrested Rabin Gurung, operator of Trust Nepal Manpower. Following his arrest, the other manpower agency operators went out of contact.
According to one manpower agency operator, the others went out of contact after arrest warrants were issued against them.
“They are not in Nepal at the moment. I have heard that some have gone to India and others have reached Malaysia. None of them is in Nepal,” he said.
Gurung, who was arrested, has been released from custody following a Supreme Court order.
On October 14, Minister Ramjee Yadav had summoned the chief of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police to the ministry and directed him to arrest all manpower agency operators included in the list.
Gurung was arrested on October 15 and remanded in custody. Challenging his arrest, advocate Uddhav Kumar Karki filed a habeas corpus petition at the Supreme Court on Gurung’s behalf.
The Supreme Court ruled that his detention was unlawful from the outset, beyond the authorities’ jurisdiction and procedurally flawed. It issued a habeas corpus order under Article 133(2) of the Constitution.
The court also ordered the Department of Foreign Employment to write to the Kalimati Police Circle to secure Gurung’s release in connection with the case, unless he was required to remain in custody under the law in relation to other cases.
The department recorded Gurung’s statement after his arrest. It said the process of recording statements from the other manpower agency operators was also under way. However, the operators remain out of contact.
The department has issued a notice asking those against whom the tribunal has issued arrest warrants to contact it within 35 days. It has warned that if they fail to do so within the given period, it will initiate necessary legal procedures, including freezing their bank accounts and restricting their travel.
