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Iraq ban likely to be off today
- Follow-up
KATHMANDU, JUL 26 -
The government is mulling lifting the ban on Nepali migrant workers going to Iraq. If all goes as planned, the ban may be lifted on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and Chief Secretary Madhav Ghimire on Monday convened separate meetings with senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Labour and decided to take a call no later than Tuesday, given the urgency of the matter.
Following the massacre of 12 Nepali citizens in August 2006, Nepal had banned its citizens from working in Iraq. After a foreign ministry decision dated Dec. 10, 2008, it is stamped on every Nepali — “not valid for Iraq.”
Foreign Secretary Madan Kumar Bhattarai also met US ambassador to Nepal, Scott H. DeLisi, at his office and discussed the condition of Nepali citizens in Iraq. CENTCOM, the U.S. contract command, had given a 20-day deadline to Nepali and nationals of other countries, which have banned working in Iraq, to leave Iraq by then. The foreign ministry also sought information from India which decided last May to lift the ban on its citizens working in Iraq.
Separate requests have been sent to the Nepali mission in New Delhi and the Government of India asking on what basis the Indian government lifted the ban and what is the impact after lifting the ban.
“We are closely following the Philippines’ strategy on the issue, seeking report from our missions and the U.S. embassy in Kathmandu. Based on the various inputs, we will forward it to the Labour Ministry,” Foreign Secretary Bhattarai told the Post.
“We have sought information from the U.S. ambassador about the possible ramifications of lifting the ban. The Foreign Secretary and the U.S. envoy will meet on Tuesday and we will get the picture after the meeting,” a senior official said. Unofficial data show that more than 30,000 Nepalis are currently working in Iraq from where they are sending billions of rupees as remittance. “We can’t bring them back and if we leave them as they, it would be a disaster,” the official said.
Posted on: 2010-07-27 08:20
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