Regulations governing foreign job recruiting agencies in Nepal currently require to sent at least 100 workers abroad in two consecutive years for the renewal of their registration. However, amid the pandemic and the ban on international flights for months, this is becoming hard for many of these agencies to fulfill these criteria. 

The Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA)—the umbrella organization of recruiting agencies-- has said nearly 80 percent of recruiting agencies are at risk of losing their license. Restrictions on travel for most months in the last year have made it impossible for them to qualify the requirement of the renewal, reported The Kathmandu Post. 

Among 855 registered agencies, only 123 have managed to cross the threshold limit

Among 855 registered agencies, only 123 have managed to cross the threshold limit. 

“In the last fiscal year, when the country was reeling under the first wave of the pandemic, we were able to work for at least four or five months,” Sujit Kumar Shrestha, the general secretary of the association, was quoted as saying by The Kathmandu Post.  “The situation got far worse this fiscal year in which the foreign employment sector bore a heavy brunt.” 

The amendment in the Foreign Employment Act--of introducing the minimum threshold-- was brought in 2019 to stop the fraudulent and mushrooming of agencies. Now, the association is demanding the repeal of the amendment and said the government needed to be considerate about the industry problem. 

(SAM)