Kathmandu, June 22
The parliamentary International Relations and Labour Committee on Wednesday directed the KP Sharma Oli government to prevent manpower agencies from trafficking Nepali workers to third countries by using Indian airports. It told the government to take legal action against agencies that are trafficking workers into no-go countries like Afghanistan, in the wake of Monday’s terrorist attack in Kabul, which killed 12 Nepali security guards working for the Canadian Embassy in the Afghan capital and injured seven of their friends.
Prabhu Sah, committee Chair, said: The committee held discussions with Labour and Foreign Secretaries on the Kabul attack, directed them to find the facts and do the needful to bring back those workers, who want to return home.
Committee Chair Sah said the meeting urged the government to take diplomatic initiatives to stop trafficking of Nepali workers to third countries via India. The committee directed the government of Nepal to provide funds for the treatment of the injured guards and pay appropriate compensation to the families of the fallen ones.
At the meeting, committee members said the government should ban manpower companies involved in human trafficking. Former foreign minister and Nepali Congress leader Sujata Koirala said human trafficking has been thriving in the name of foreign employment because governments allowed almost anyone to operate manpower companies. Government itself should run a limited number of manpower agencies, Koirala said, demanding closure of manpower agencies from the private sector.
Learning lessons from the Kabul attack, we should take immediate initiatives to bring home Nepali workers from war-torn countries like Syria and Iraq also, lawmaker Shyam Kumar Shrestha said.
Such agencies are trafficking young people to countries like Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq by promising attractive salaries. According to a government estimate, there are more than 10,000 Nepali workers in Afghanistan alone.
Condemning the terrorist attack, the committee paid tributes to the dead, extended condolences to the bereaved families and wished the injured a speedy recovery. The committee thanked the government for sending an aircraft swiftly to bring home the dead and urged it to find the facts.
