Nepal women banned from Middle East
11 August BBC
Nepal has banned women under the age of 30 from going to work in
Middle Eastern countries amid growing concerns that they are being
exploited.
Common complaints include physical and sexual abuse, poor conditions
and non-payment of salaries. The move comes 18 months after the
government ended a 12-year ban on women working in Gulf countries. It
was imposed after a young woman, who had been abused in Kuwait,
committed suicide, sparking outrage in Nepal.
Every day, an estimated 1,000 people leave Nepal for the Middle East
for jobs as housemaids. It is estimated that there are as many as
200,000 Nepalese women working there unofficially. But they can be
vulnerable and Nepal's embassies in the region say they deal with
numerous cases of women seeking shelter after alleged physical and
sexual abuse.
"Young female workers are reported to have been sexually and
psychologically exploited in Gulf countries," Information Minister Raj
Kishor Yadav was quoted as saying in the Himalayan Times
English-language daily newspaper. "So the cabinet decided to set the age
bar for women migrant workers in the Gulf. Women above 30 years of age
are at low risk of such exploitation."
Women from Nepal have been allowed to go to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the
United Arab Emirates and Qatar since 2010, when the ban imposed after
the suicide of the Nepalese domestic worker was lifted. Correspondents
say that while most Nepalese migrant workers are based in India, the
government and local charities estimate that between 20,000 and 70,000
are registered as working wealthy Gulf countries, lured by the prospect
of better wages which are sent to their families back home. |