The loose provisions of the labor migration policy

Due to the demand for cheap labor by the liberal market oriented production system, the unlimited exploitation of natural resources, the misappropriation of arable land and climate effects, any individual surrenders himself unconditionally to the cheap labor market. There are no rights in the dedication done in this way. There are only legitimate and illegitimate aspects of responsibility and obligation. The experiences of Nepalese labor migrants who have been informally in India for seven and a half decades and formally for four decades in the labor market of various countries in the world are consistent with Sameer Amin's argument.

Without seeing or finding opportunities in the domestic labor market, it is a worker's obligation to seek other labor markets. Any citizen works in an unequal labor relationship by contracting with the global labor market. However, the basic policy question of today's labor migration is the question of what are the obligations of the state that receives remittances towards the citizens who earn remittances, and to what extent they have been able to fulfill them. Recently, I have tried to discuss the proposed draft of Public Labor Immigration Policy 2081 from different angles.

Generally, a policy framework is a national approach to that question, which is linked to the essence of the political system within the existing basic law (constitution). That is, the essence of the relevant question, the scope of its definition, the practical meaning associated with human life, the sovereign identity of the individual and the fundamental rights associated with that identity. On the one hand, the blueprint should analyze the structural differences and benefits in the society and ensure the social justice of the respective communities. On the other hand, it is to facilitate the relevant agencies and stakeholders to become responsible. However, the document prepared as the policy of labor migration does not include these references.

What is labor migration in the context of Nepal and what is not? Labor migration itself falls into which dimension within the broader migration? What is the interrelationship between them, which complicates our labor migration process and challenges the social justice of workers? These are such questions, which cannot be properly addressed without the labor migration policy of a geopolitical and geographical world map like Nepal. Another important aspect, labor migration is a dimension linked to the global labor market. But the scope of the policy framework is politically national in character, but also in the scope of diplomatic, economic and human rights and social justice of an international character linked to it.

In the context of Nepal, what can and should be the limits of the domestic framework, its regional and international boundaries? A number of such conceptual questions can be raised about the document. This question needs to be addressed by the Nepalese version of the labor migration policy framework. But this blueprint cannot address these conceptual questions. This policy document sounds like an annual event. Because rather than making the government responsible, foreign employment professionals, non-governmental organizations and non-resident Focusing on organizations like Nepali Sangh seems to be focused on expanding their role.

NGOs cannot replace the state and its structures. It is a conflict of interest to bring agencies like foreign employment professionals and Non-Resident Nepali Association into the direct role of managing labor migration. We have to debate many aspects of it. Cheated, sold, tricked slave labor migrants are all around us, to confirm this claim. However, we are not without clean, transparent, socially responsible foreign employment businesses. There are significant examples of their facilitation of safe, dignified and non-exploitative labor migration processes at the government, destination country and international levels related to labor migration. But they themselves are marginalized in their professional group. The organizational leadership of businessmen is either not able or not interested in mainstreaming the example of such positive efforts. This in itself is a matter of public debate. In some destination countries, the negative role of non-resident Nepali is said by the victimized Nepali labor migrants. There are many aspects to this, which will surface with time and context.

The state should facilitate non-resident Nepalis and their organization NRNA to organize. So that the non-resident citizens of other countries can be transformed into an organized and organized diaspora like NRNA. To become a fellow traveler of the social, cultural and economic transformation of his native land. Proposing in the policy that the NRNA will be mobilized to make our embassies effective is not only narrowing the role of the state in managing labor migration but also allowing the state to be irresponsible. Will these self-interested bodies help the labor migrants from the point of view of social justice and support the state to maintain good governance in the labor migration management process, or will they use the politically expected role for their commercial interests? The real question is this.

As the embassy represents the state, the embassy also takes the main responsibility of the workers working in the destination labor market. It should not be too late to introduce labor diplomacy into the current foreign policy to make our embassies manpower, financially and conceptually labour-friendly. Labor migrants scattered around the world have direct access to the state, join political parties and build organizations in migration, and in Nepal, there is a large group of unorganized and non-paying labor migrants. But it's lonely. The same group is subject to fraud, fraud, exploitation and discrimination from the day they decide to migrate. The situation of women, very low class and those who can speak Nepali well is more complicated. It is also this category that is taken, sent, forced to go, and sold through informal channels through the process set by the state through brokers. The presence of the state is more important to this group. Unfortunately, most of our embassies do not listen to their concerns as workers fall under the Ministry of Labour, while women fall under the Ministry of Women. Various researches have confirmed this. Let's not go too far, the rescues done during Corona confirm this and the discrimination done at other times is like everyday.

In the proposed plan, the embassy will make a shelter, on the one hand, it is flawed from a gender and social point of view, and on the other hand, it is not practical. While saying this, the employer is not trying to ignore the fact that workers who have been unilaterally terminated by the labor contract and sent to the streets need immediate relief. However, the question is, what will be the effect on the sovereign identity and fundamental rights of women, especially women who have been sold as female laborers, who have suffered sexual violence, and are placed in the rehabilitation center? What can be the alternative solution for such centers? The proposed blueprint does not seem to cover the various dimensions of labor migration.

We must now understand that labor migration is not just about boarding a plane with the Ministry of Labor's labor approval stamp on the passport. What is labor migration in the context of Nepal? Which dimensions are relevant in today's Nepal? And what is the basis for addressing those dimensions in a meaningful way? While ensuring the fundamental rights of our labor migrants, can this policy blueprint address labor exploitation at destination, sexual and non-sexual violence, wage discrimination, fraud in contracts/contracts, loneliness when away from family and the psychology that arises from all these?

It is relevant to raise the context of workers going to and from India. However, the piecemeal work of empty labor registration does not address the laborers going to India and the trafficking and trafficking through India. How are some non-governmental organizations that work against human trafficking challenging the right of movement and sovereign identity of young women with a structure designed to relax state immigration at the border?

The network of migrant workers, representatives of labor organizations and those involved in labor migration research say that this plan was prepared with the active participation of foreign employment professionals. In fact, such policy blueprints should be decided after a deep analysis of various sectors of Nepali society that are directly and indirectly connected with labor migration with the involvement of relevant stakeholders. However, reading the available draft does not seem to do so. When analyzing most of the aspects included in it, the Foreign Employment Act, 2064 and the policies and action plans made under it seem like general modified versions, which are not relevant to the changing times. Since 2064, the character of global, regional and domestic labor markets has changed. The forms of discrimination have changed. The overall character of the destination country's politics, diplomacy, economy, gender policy, labor policy, etc. has changed. This change is also found in our own domestic socio-cultural, political, economic, gender and class consciousness, while employment opportunities are increasingly narrow in time.

On the one hand, making the Foreign Employment Board autonomous and bringing it under the influence of the private sector means allowing the current situation to flourish even more. On the other hand, proposing another separate structure would add another financial burden to the existing irrelevant structure. The current structure of the Ministry of Labor is neither timely to address the issue of labor migration nor is it relevant to lead the dream of development and prosperity of Nepal. What is needed is a comprehensive restructuring of the current Ministry of Labor, not the creation or dissolution of a single department or base. Labor governance is not something that can be forced within the boundaries of a single ministry. Claiming that Nepal is a model for a clean and fair admission process is another fallacy. If we are calling unfairness and fraud in foreign employment as fair, then it is clear what kind of system we are trying to establish in terms of labor governance? We need to build an integrated labor migration policy framework and replace the current piecemeal provision and structure.

In such an integrated labor migration policy, there is a need for debate on foreign affairs, women, home/immigration, development and planning, the meaning of calculating remittances and the role of the National Bank. The responsibilities and responsibilities of the bodies from the union through the state to the local level including environment, land/farm/agriculture, animal husbandry, market system, tourism, etc. should be clarified. It is the need of the hour to replace the obsolete Foreign Employment Act, 2064 and the fragmented blueprints made under it.