KATHAMNDU, MAR 16 - The government has decided to reopen Lebanon, an attractive labour market for Nepali women, for foreign employment following a series of parleys with agencies involved in sending workers abroad.

The Department of Foreign Employment will resume granting the pre-approval to Lebanon aspirants from Tuesday. It had stopped issuing the permits a month ago amid growing safety concerns. There are an estimated 20,000 Nepalis working in Lebanon, most of them women employed as domestic help.

"We plan to start giving permission from Tuesday," said Mohan Krishna Sapkota, director general of the department. "If not Tuesday, Lebanon will be open by Wednesday."

Foreign employment agencies can then apply for a pre-approval after obtaining requests for labour from Lebanon. "We will make sure the agencies send workers to reliable and safe sectors only, and we will be monitoring them," said Sapkota.

According to the department, it had only stopped granting the pre-approval, which is necessary to work in Lebanon through an agency, and not the final approval.  

Sapkota said that the government had only taken restrictive measures, and not stopped granting final approvals. However, foreign employment agencies said that the government had started granting final approvals only on Thursday.

"It has not given any final permits for the last three weeks," said Madan Mahat, acting president of the Foreign Employment Association. "The process of sending workers to Lebanon has resumed from Thursday."  

Mahat added that they had conducted a study to send workers to Lebanon in an organised way so that departures are not halted again. He said that they would also be adopting new safety measures based on the study.

The entrepreneurs had met with Minister for Labour and Transport Management Mohamad Aftab Alam on Wednesday and demanded that Lebanon be reopened for foreign employment.

Posted on: 2010-03-16 12:50

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