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VOL. 28, NO. 21, Feb 05, 2009 (Magh 23 2065 B.S.)
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Hitting Home
Nepal is just feeling the first painful blows of the global recession as herds of laid off workers return home
By SANJAYA DHAKAL
Just as the economists had been predicting since the onset of the global recession last year, the situation of the Nepalese workers overseas has been deteriorating rapidly.
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Nepalese Workers Going Aborad: Hitting hard |
In the last few days, the newspapers of the country have been hugging the headlines of the returning youths from Malaysia and even some Gulf countries.
As the global recession has hit the demand hard, a South East Asian tiger economy of Malaysia, which is one of the major overseas destinations of Nepalese youths, has seen lots of its industries suffering financially.
Subsequently, the Malaysian companies have been laying off their employees.
Unluckily, Nepalese youths are also among those receiving the pink slips.
In the Gulf countries also, the recession has dragged down the price of petroleum products, which, in turn, is likely to affect the booming construction industry of these oil-rich nations.
Nearly one million Nepalese youths have been working in these countries and sending back over Rs 100 billion a year – helping the ailing Nepalese economy survive despite the odds.
The news of mass lay-offs of the workers in Malaysia has stirred the government. Minister for Labor and Transport Management Lekh Raj Bhatta has said the Nepal government is taking initiatives to save the jobs of Nepalese in Malaysia in the aftermath of the Malaysian government's ban on foreign laborers citing economic downturn.
He said the Malaysian government would be requested to ensure that around 400,000 Nepalese who are working there currently do not have to lose jobs as a result of its drive to secure jobs for its own citizens.
Bhatta added that he was hopeful that Nepalese working there will not have to lose jobs in a massive scale. Malaysia is the second largest job destination for Nepalese.
According to the minister, the government is studying the possibility of sending workers to high-income countries like Japan as major job destinations have started banning foreign workers.
The Department of Labor and Foreign Employment Promotion has announced suspension of work permit for Malaysia. The department in a statement said the decision has been taken following the Malaysian government's ban on foreign workers. But Nepalese workers already having work permit for Malaysia would not be affected by the ban, the department said.
In order to soothe the ruffled feathers, the Prime Minister, too, has talked about creating jobs inside the country.
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' has said that the government will focus on building industries to open job opportunities within the country. "It is certain that Nepal cannot remain untouched by the economic crisis that started from United States. The process of turning back our people from their overseas job destinations due to recession has already started. There is real danger of huge unemployment problem here. Therefore, there is no alternative but to focus on building big and small domestic industries for them," said PM Dahal in his message to the countrymen.
He said that the government was looking at options to build some flagship projects on domestic efforts. "Let us build something that is totally Nepalese. Let it be built with Nepalese capital, labour, technology and effort. Why can't we build Upper Tamakoshi hydropower project in this manner?" he said.
