Overseas recruitment firms in Nepal picketed the country’s Department of Foreign Employment (DOFE) last week. Demanding that the new mandate that foreign employers pay visa and travel fees for Nepalese migrant workers be revoked, reports ekantipur.com.
Around 300 protesters chanted slogans and waved placards demanding the resignation of the State Minister of Labour and Employment and an end to corruption at the government agency.
The new provision will come into effect on 6 July 2015. Officials and foreign employment experts say the new provision will reduce the level of recruitment fees paid by prospective overseas workers.
Recruiting agencies, however, claim that the decision was “immature” and lacks the support of the receiving countries. They claim a significant proportion of the recruitment fee goes to accredited agents working for labour receiving agencies and in the grassroots levels.