The recruitment of new unskilled workers from Nepal has been frozen amid a dispute between the two countries over which agencies may handle the process.
Health screenings for Nepali job seekers stopped on 1 October, effectively halting new calling visas. Under Malaysia’s system, screenings proceed only once one of 25 principal recruitment agencies selected by Malaysia, each with ten secondary agencies, activates them.
Nepal’s labour ministry objects to Malaysia’s selection of the agencies and has refused to authorise them to operate exclusively. Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri R. Ramanan rejected Nepal’s request to return to the earlier arrangement, and Malaysia said in a letter on 6 October that it would keep the 25-agency framework.
Nepal’s Minister of Labour Ramji Yadav has proposed a joint working group meeting on 18 to 19 November or 2 to 3 December, and wants the existing system kept until a new arrangement is agreed. The talks would also cover renewing the bilateral memorandum of understanding.
In Nepal, the Department of Foreign Employment has obtained arrest warrants against the owners of the 25 agencies and given them 35 days to surrender.
Malaysia took in about 132,000 Nepali workers in the last fiscal year and employs around 400,000 Nepalis, mainly in manufacturing.