The National Human Rights Commission has formed a multi-stakeholder task force to work towards the cause of migrant workers during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The 17-member joint committee...consists of representatives from the rights commission, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Labour Ministry, Department of Foreign Employment, Foreign Employment Board and non-government organisations working in the fields of foreign employment and migrants’ rights.

The task force, led by Sudeep Pathak, a member of the National Human Rights Commission, will facilitate the Nepal government in its efforts of dealing with problems faced by migrant workers, and their safer repatriation.

...Various rights groups have been calling on the government to make immediate arrangements for safer repatriation of Nepali workers from Covid-19-hit countries where they have been living without food, accommodation, money and under the fear of virus infection.

Tens of thousands of Nepali workers are expected to return home from Gulf countries and Malaysia as soon as the international flights resume. The government has said that workers will be brought back based on their current situation, and priority will be given to the most affected ones...