"Implementation of guidelines to repatriate stranded workers fraught with challenges", 24 Jul 2020

The Supreme Court recently ordered the government to bring workers home using money from the Migrant Workers’ Welfare Fund, maintained by the Foreign Employment Board, by drafting a set of guidelines. Last week, the Cabinet approved the guidelines...The guidelines say that workers who haven’t received air tickets and other expenses from their host country, employer, or recruiting agencies to return home, shall be entitled to financial support from the government. However, labour migration experts and labour rights activists say the guidelines and its implementation may further delay the prospects of migrant workers returning home...Despite the encouraging provisions in the document, there’s doubt that the implementation of the guidelines will be smooth and efficient, said Nepal, South Asia director at Equidem Research, a UK-based human rights research organisation. The main hurdle is likely to come from the process to verify the eligibility of migrant workers to return home on a government-sponsored flight...