Foreign Employment Agencies Launch Nationwide Shutdown, Services Suspended Indefinitely

Dragon Media Correspondent

The Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies has announced a nationwide shutdown of all manpower companies from Monday, accusing the government of remaining indifferent to its various professional demands.

The Association said its member agencies have closed their offices and indefinitely suspended all administrative and procedural work related to sending Nepali workers abroad for employment.

Foreign employment agencies said they were compelled to take stronger protest measures after repeated requests to the government to address their concerns failed to produce any meaningful response.

As part of a phased protest programme, the Association had already decided to halt the publication of new job advertisements, preliminary and final labour approvals, visa stamping and other related procedures.

Workers who had already received labour approval were initially given a limited period to travel to their destination countries. With that deadline now over, the Association said all office operations and foreign employment-related administrative activities have been completely suspended.

The shutdown is expected to directly affect a large number of Nepali workers currently in different stages of the foreign employment process, including labour approval, visa processing, documentation and scheduled departures.

Those who have already booked tickets, fixed departure dates or reached the final stage of employment procedures could be among the most immediately affected.

The Association has maintained that services will not resume until its demands are addressed.

Unless the government and foreign employment agencies enter into early negotiations, the protest could cause further disruption to Nepal’s regular foreign employment system and create additional uncertainty for workers preparing to leave the country.