Kathmandu, November 8
The United Arab Emirates has sent a draft of the labour agreement it plans to sign with Nepal so as to facilitate the process of employing Nepali migrant workers in the Arab country.
Nepal’s recent decision to sign the labour agreement with Jordan has triggered the UAE to take initiatives for the similar agreement, it has been learned. Otherwise, Nepal’s Ministry of Labour and Employment had proposed to sign a memorandum of understanding for domestic workers with the UAE. But, the Abu Dhabi government took a step ahead and send the draft to Nepal for consideration.
MoLE Under-Secretary Shivaram Pokharel says the proposed draft is progressive as the UAE is positive about addressing Nepal’s major concerns and further discussions will be held to make the agreement more worker-friendly.
The draft mentions that workers get wages and other facilities including insurance on the basis of a contract they sign with employers. Likewise, the workers will be allowed to change employers if the employers exploit them.
The UAE is the third biggest host for Nepali migrant workers. In the first three months, around 14,000 Nepalis have gone to the UAE. The exact data about the number of Nepalis in the Gulf country is immediately unavailable.
