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31 May, Kathmandu. 23-year-old Tekraj Ghimire from Malika Rural Municipality-8 in Gulmi came to Malaysia in June 2079 for employment. While working at a hotel in Genting Highlands, Malaysia, a Chinese used to come regularly. The Chinese customer, who comes every day, gave me medicine to reduce stress one day and asked me to keep some things with him.
At the request of the Chinese customer, he took the goods to the room and kept them. A few days later, the police came to his room and searched his house. During the search, it was found that the goods given by the Chinese were drugs. The Malaysian police arrested him and started a drug case.
Now he is in police custody for 6 months in a drug case. Meanwhile, he has not received any legal assistance. Bishnuprasad Ghimire, Tekraj’s brother, says, “We have submitted a request to the embassy, but no news has been received so far.”
27-year-old Lalbabu Yadav of Siraha Golbazar Municipality-7 has been in Saudi jail for two years. He went to Saudi Arabia for employment and was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment by the court there in November 2022. He is currently serving a prison sentence in a drug case.
Yadav, who arrived in Saudi Arabia three years ago, worked as an assistant in a store. A Punjabi Indian national was driving the car in that store. He had reached Dubai with a Punjabi citizen in connection with his work. While returning from Dubai, Saudi police seized drugs from the driver. Being together, the Saudi police arrested Yadav along with the Indian citizen and started a drug related case.
“He was also charged with drugs because he was walking with me,” said Vijay Prasad Yadav, “he had to go to jail even though he was not at fault.”
Lal Babu’s family requested the Nepali embassy in Saudi to help fight the case saying that he was innocent. But Dai Vijay said that the embassy did not care. “The driver gave a statement in the court that his brother was blameless,” he said, “but because there was no one to take the initiative, he had to serve the prison sentence.” He said that if the government or the embassy had taken the initiative at that time, Anahka would not have had to go to jail.
Many workers who went for employment are jailed abroad for various reasons. Every year, Nepali workers who go abroad for labor end up in prison for various reasons.
In 2022, the Human Rights Commission published the ‘Report on the Human Rights Situation of Migrant Workers 2079’. According to the report, 1,030 Nepali people are in prisons abroad by 2021 alone. In 2016, 800 Nepali workers were in prisons abroad.
Most of the Nepali workers are in jail in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Kuwait and Qatar, which are the major labor destinations of Nepal. According to which, 260 people are in prison in UAE (United Arab Emirates), 223 in Malaysia, 168 in Kuwait, 153 in Saudi Arabia and 88 in Hong Kong. There are many Nepalis in the Gulf countries because of the large number of Nepalis.
Workers who have gone to work abroad are not only jailed, some of them are even sentenced to death. Some are unable to pay blood money and are spending years in jail.
According to the commission’s report, 41 Nepali workers involved in various heinous crimes have been sentenced to death abroad. According to which, 24 Nepalis are facing death penalty in Saudi Arabia, 14 in Malaysia, 2 in United Arab Emirates and 1 in Qatar. In this way, there are many reasons why Nepalis who have gone to work abroad are jailed.
Some workers who have come for foreign employment face problems even if they do not have knowledge of the language and laws of that country. Journalist Rameshwar Bohra, who is reporting on labor issues, says that most of the Nepalis do not know the language of the respective countries and have no knowledge of the laws, but they have to be involved in legal entanglements and even prison terms.
“Not all workers are fully aware of the language and laws of the respective countries,” he says.
He says that there are many reasons why laborers go to jail. According to him, most of the workers are in ‘undocumented’ status, so they end up in police custody, while those involved in criminal activities are going to jail. He says that Nepali workers have been detained and jailed for serious charges such as beatings, drug dealing, alcohol consumption, fighting, traffic rules, mistreatment of women, theft and some cases of murder and rape.
Not getting legal aid
Nepali workers who have been jailed abroad for various reasons do not even get legal assistance from the state. This is also the reason why workers who are in legal entanglement are forced to spend their life in prison. Some of those who are in jail are facing injustice even if they do not get adequate legal help and counseling.
The report issued by the commission shows that most of the workers do not get any legal help if they are jailed. The report says – ‘In 2021, it is mentioned in the report that only 7 percent of the 1,300 Nepali immigrant workers who were sentenced to prison received free legal assistance from various Nepali embassies. The remaining 93 percent did not receive legal aid at all.
It is mentioned in the report that due to the lack of awareness among the workers and the lack of knowledge about the laws of the respective countries, Nepali people end up in jail even for simple mistakes. However, since no one will fight a legal battle on their behalf, innocent workers are also forced to suffer punishment.
While for the legal assistance of the workers, the guidelines regarding the legal defense of the Nepali workers who have gone to foreign employment have been issued. The guidelines have provided for legal defense and legal defense if the workers who have gone to foreign employment with a labor permit are charged with a criminal offense within the contract period.
For legal protection, an application can be made to the secretariat of the Foreign Employment Board, if abroad, or to the relevant mission in Nepal. After the investigation, the board will spend up to 15 lakh rupees for legal defense. There is a provision that the commission can appoint legal professionals, provide funds and manage legal defense expenses.
Labor Expert Advocate Dr. Somprasad Luintel says that the legal assistance that workers get abroad is very low. “The first thing is that there is a lack of awareness about the legal assistance that the workers get from the state,” he says, “and the second thing is that the process is also complicated. Even the embassies do not show any special readiness in this regard.’
Luintel says that it will be a great relief for the workers if the legal aid section is implemented. “The workers are facing problems due to legal ignorance and language problems,” he said. They do not suffer unnecessarily.’ He said that it will play a big role in bringing justice even if some innocent workers are in jail.
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