Foreign Employment Department backlog increases as worker complaints keep rising

 Kathmandu, August 18


The Department of Foreign Employment has received over 36,000 complaints from workers who were cheated, stranded abroad, or denied their promised salary and work, but many of these complaints remain unresolved.


Director General Kamal Prasad Bhattarai said some complaints date back to 2007, and about 200 new complaints are being added daily. Last fiscal year alone, 1,822 complaints were filed under relief and rescue, 5,632 in the legal division, and 5,337 in the police division. Of these, 979 were resolved under relief and rescue, 528 in the legal division, and 4,876 in the police division, with the police division handling cases faster.


Bhattarai explained that the department has limited staff, which causes delays. To tackle the backlog, a new phased plan has been introduced. Complaints from 2007 to 2013 will be resolved first, followed by cases from 2015, 2018, and up to the present.


The department is also working to amend foreign employment laws to make them more time-relevant and simplify procedures. Online complaint filing has been promoted to make the process easier and more transparent, though many workers and families have been waiting years for justice.


Efforts have also been made to make the justice system victim-friendly, ensuring complaints are based on facts. Officers from various divisions have been assigned as investigators, and a separate structure has been created for legal and investigation matters to speed up case resolution.


Planned legal changes:

The Ministry of Labor is preparing to amend the Foreign Employment Act to decentralize cases. A key proposal is to transfer investigations of personal fraud cases (Section 43) to the police, with hearings conducted by district courts.


Labor law expert Advocate Som Luitel said this could slow down the process, as district courts were historically less effective. He suggested that while fraud investigations should go to the police, adjudication should remain with the Foreign Employment Tribunal, possibly expanding access through provincial high court benches.


Currently, all cases investigated by the department and police are adjudicated by the Foreign Employment Tribunal in Babarmahal.

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