Repatriation of workers from other countries shows the challenges ahead for Nepal government As Nepal prepares to bring home the first batch of 25,000 overseas migrant workers home, there are lessons to learn from the experience of India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the Philippines which have been repatriating their citizens during the global pandemic. There […]
Nearly 6,000 undocumented Nepali workers in Malaysia opt for amnesty to go home On 31 December Malaysia’s amnesty program for migrant workers called ‘Back for Good’ (B4G) came to an end. By paying RM700 ($170) and tickets back home, the scheme gave undocumented migrant workers an opportunity to return home without facing the penalty of […]
Migrants get mixed messages in Nepal’s promise of zero-cost recruitment Nepal’s overseas migrant workers bear high recruitment costs. A 2016 survey by the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) shows that average recruitment costs to the Gulf ranged from $1,083 to $1,172, while workers going to Malaysia had to pay $1,388. Compare this to their average monthly salary […]
Popular Pakistani qawwali singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan plays on Karachi’s airwaves as men offload sacks filled with cloth scraps from trucks and take them into warehouses. There, they’re separated by size and either taken back to factories or sold in markets as stuffing for cushions. But while the pay is paltry for all, men […]
Nepal is not just exporting manpower to Qatar now, but also veggies There is something inherently elitist about labels like ‘expat’ and ‘diaspora’. They refer to skilled Nepalis studying, working or living abroad and not to the hundreds of thousands of migrant workers when, in fact, both are just individuals moving out for better opportunities. […]
The Gulf state has taken key steps to address labor issues ahead of the 2022 games, but workers say change has yet to improve their lives
Hanif Hasan is a 25-year-old Rohingya Muslim living in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. He has been unemployed for two years and hasn’t left home for a month, fearing arrest. “It’s hard even to breathe here,” Hasan says. “Every moment feels like it might be the last.” On November 15, the Saudi Interior Ministry launched a plan to supervise […]
Overcoming a bunch of obstacles, the dreamy journeyof migrant workers starts from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka. The economy of Bangladesh and prosperity of Bangladesh are connected with the dream. Experts say that because of the reason reform in manpower export sector is necessary to make this dream journey irresistible. Manpower export in several countries including UAE has […]
In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the state provides a great amount of cover for big construction companies and other companies hiring migrant workers. For instance, the UAE, along with other Gulf countries, use the “Kafala” system to keep track of their migrant labourers. This system gives private companies the authority to issue work visas […]
It seems that fire falls from the sky when the sun is shining. The sand under the feet is like burning coal. It feels like the whole body is burning out. In spite all these there is heavy workload. Jony, from Chandpur district of Bangladesh, has been working in Saudi Arabia for 16 years. How […]
Behind the spanking new skyscrapers lies the sad truth for immigrant workers. Dubai’s labour laws are unkind. Dubai has undergone a massive transformation, from a fishing and pearl diving centre on the shores of the gulf, to an ultra-modern city-state of today in a matter of just a few decades. Modern Dubai is a cosmopolitan […]
The blockade against Qatar has had a disproportionate economic impact on foreign workers, though increased self-sustainability efforts may provide new employment opportunities.
JAHANARA* HAD HAD enough. For a year, the Bangladeshi cook had been working 12 to 16 hours a day, eating only leftovers and sleeping on the kitchen floor of her employer’s Abu Dhabi home – all for half the salary she had been promised. She had to prepare four fresh meals a day for the eight-member […]
In Bangladesh, the manpower export sector is basically broker controlled and captivated byvarious irregularities. From renowned agencies to general brokers and so called local agencies try do business in this sector. These agencies and brokers follow deceitful ways and irregularities to send workers abroad. However, corrupted system, bureaucratic complexity and opaque policy of the government institutions compel […]
The life outside the country is unfamiliar, the language there is unknown and the people are strangers. Most of the migrant workers cannot even talk to their employers. Lack of efficiency of the workers and the limitation of inability to make others understand their problems have made the worker-employer relationship very bitter. This bitter relationship […]
A story of some Migrant Labours, are alone on Eid days and were badly missing their Love ones in Dubai.