Number of people leaving for foreign jobs up 16.66pc

KATHMANDU, APR 25: The number of workers leaving the country for employment purposes increased by 16.66 per cent in the first nine months (mid-July to mid-April) of the current fiscal year as compared to the same period of the last fiscal.

A total of 416,950 individuals acquired permission for foreign employment in the review period, according to the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE).

The number of total outbound workers included 16,263 females. During the same period of last fiscal, 357,416 workers had left the country for jobs.

Malaysia, being the largest labour destination, hired 172,181 individuals. Qatar took in 98,339 workers, while Saudi Arabia offered jobs to 78,400 Nepali youths.

DoFE officials said the trend of selecting Malaysia for job is high as the destination offers comparatively better salary compared to that in Gulf nations even for unskilled workers.

Other major markets, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, absorbed 42,597 and 7,332 workers, respectively.

Even though there has been a rise in the total number of workers leaving the country, aspirants who choose foreign employment and reach the destination through ‘individual work permit’ from DoFE has come down significantly.

According to DoFE, during the review period, there was a decline in the number of workers who left under individual permit by 44.21 per cent to 7,390 workers compared to 13,247 workers last year. A total of 376,251 aspirants left through mediation of foreign employment agencies and this figure is up by 24.44 per cent compared to 302,347 workers taking support of such companies last year.

Along with more aspirants eyeing foreign employment, the number of instances of fraud and cheating has also gone up by 23.24 per cent.

DoFE statistics show that a total of 2,195 fraud cases have been filed seeking compensation of Rs 606.40 million this year against 1,781 cases last year. Of the total scam cases registered at DoFE this year, 1,519 cases are related to manpower agencies, while 676 cases are linked to agents and others.

Though the number of people leaving for foreign shores for employment has been increasing, a major concern for the government has been that the remittance inflow has been on the decline.

Remittance inflow growth rate had continued to decline in the eighth month (mid-July to mid-March) of the current fiscal year, which has also caused current account and balance of payments surpluses to shrink.

During the first eight months of this fiscal, the country witnessed inflow of remittance worth Rs 370.99 billion, which is a growth of only four per cent compared to the growth of 34.1 per cent in the same period of last fiscal year.