17/08/2021 (1) New Message! However, as pandemic-hit Nepali migrants started to return home unpaid and often trapped in ‘debt bondage’ after being unable to clear × loans that they had taken to fund the overseas jobs, migrant rights activists have been demanding the setting up of transitional justice (/) mechanisms (https://kathmandupost.com/national/2020/08/02/set-up-a-mechanism-for-ensuring-migrant-workers-wages-labour-rightsactivists-say) to ensure workers are paid and compensated for their losses. But there has been no recourse or guarantee if these workers would ever be paid or compensated (https://kathmandupost.com/national/2021/01/19/migrant-workers-paid-hefty-sums-for-overseas-jobs-and-returned-now-they-arewaiting-for-compensation-for-their-losses). “Even the repatriation guidelines said workers’ dues should be cleared before returning to Nepal or at least there should be documentation. But it did not happen effectively (https://kathmandupost.com/national/2020/09/05/repatriation-quandary-persists-even-with-funds-tosupport-migrant-workers-airfare). There should be a separate mechanism for crisis management (https://kathmandupost.com/national/2021/05/27/migrant-rights-activists-call-for-a-mechanism-for-rescuing-stranded-workers)to protect the rights of Nepali workers during extraordinary times like the pandemic,” said Lamichhane. “ In normal times, embassies may handle the situation but in circumstances like the ongoing pandemic, there should be a permanent mechanism for their evacuation and ensuring their rights like payment.” Significant number of workers (39 percent) facing the issues of wage theft are from the construction sector and are unskilled workers. The committee’s data show wage theft complaints by female workers is only 32 cases or 6 percent of such cases due to reluctance of the workers to report the cases, whereas undocumented workers may not seek remedy due to unavailability of the evidences. “Providing compensation to these workers comes with obstacles now as most of these workers do not have evidence like pay-slips and other documents which can confirm that their employers owed them money,” said Lamichhane. “Many have even forgotten the exact amount they were unpaid and have returned to Nepal making it further complicated. But government agencies should work to ensure that all repatriated workers with legitimate claims are compensated.” The committee has directly forwarded these cases to government agencies like the Department of Consular Services, Foreign Employment Board and directly reported such cases to the authorities concerned in the labour destinations either with support from Nepali missions or its own outreach. But how many workers who faced wage theft have been compensated no one knows. “Upon receiving their complaints, we forward these grievances to respective Nepali missions in labour destination countries where the Nepali missions deal with local employers to ensure dues of Nepali workers are paid,” said Sundas, the government official. “Some workers even settle the non-payment issues themselves. Also, workers, once they have received compensation, do not update us back.” Since returning home in March last year, Pariyar has been visiting various offices for help. He has been to the Qatar Embassy in Nepal, which asked him to go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which in turn asked him to go to the District Administration Office which again sent him back to the Department of Foreign Employment in Kathmandu. For Pariyar and his seven-member family, who still live in a rented accommodation in Pokhara, the dues mean everything. Meanwhile, he is again planning to go for foreign employment as his hopes of recovering his unpaid wages are fizzling out. https://kathmandupost.com/national/2021/08/15/victims-of-wage-theft-migrant-nepalis-are-losing-hope-of-recovering-their-money?fbclid=IwAR3nj… 5/9