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No special stamping on labour passports

KATHMANDU, JAN 15 - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has rejected the Labour Ministry’s proposal to stamp "special sticker" in the passports of outgoing Nepali workers, which was aimed at reducing immigration hassles to the Nepali job-migrants.Sources at the MoFA claim, such rejection was made after an in-depth discussions of pros and cons of special stamping. "We concluded that stamping will portray aspirant job-seekers as permanent labourers by such stamping," the source added.
The Ministry of Labour and Transport Management (MLTM) last November, had proposed for stamping a special sticker in the passports of outgoing workers in its efforts to simplify immigration procedures for outgoing workers.
The MLTM had forwarded such proposal to the MoFA after foreign employment entrepreneurs asked the government to restrict unnecessary hassles that every outgoing worker have to face at the Department of Immigration (DoI).
They had then claimed that the immigration officials ill-treat the foreign job seekers. "Many Nepali workers are harassed at last hour and are forced to return," the foreign employment entrepreneurs stated in their complaints.
The MLTM official also argued that their proposal would have served as a major tool to differentiate legal workers from Illegal ones, the identification of which has still been a problem for Nepal and Nepali labourers-importing countries.
Government sources concede that illegal Nepali workers have outnumbered the legal ones in recent time. "While 350,000 people have moved abroad for employment with government permission till now, the number of illegal workers is far more- almost around 400,000," they say.
Even the officials at the Foreign Ministry take this as a genuine problem. However, they add ‘the stamping cannot be a solution," they added. "Such sticker would make it difficult for those who shift to studies, for instance, from the current employment," they added.In such cases, the government will loose its credibility, as the stamped sticker would be a non-erasable shining hologram when stamped passport bearer shift the profession, he stressed.
Officials at the MLTM, meanwhile, have expressed their disappointment over the latest developments. They have stated this as a major blow in their efforts of ensuring free outflow of Nepali workers.
Apart from encouraging free outflow of foreign job aspirants, the proposed stamping of special sticker would also have given identity of genuine outgoing Nepali workers thereby discouraging massive "illegal" abroad movement, argued the MLTM official.
"Despite having such important features, the MoFA rejected the proposal. This is ridiculous," he further added.Posted on: 2004-01-16 03:09

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