Nepal

Kathmandu, July 26

The National Human Rights Commission has urged the government to lift restrictions imposed on women aspiring to go abroad for foreign employment.

The rights body has also urged the government to make necessary arrangements to send aspiring women migrant workers to foreign countries in a safe and dignified manner.

The Foreign Employment Act-2007 clearly states that migrant workers will not be discriminated on the basis of their gender, however, the government does not seem to be adopting liberal policy for the women who want to go for foreign employment.

According to a report ‘Rights Situation of Migrant Workers& released by the NHRC last week, the government has imposed complete ban or sometime age restrictions on women migrant workers from time to time. In 2012, the government had placed ban on the women below 30 years of age from going to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates as domestic help. To make the provision further stringent, the age bar was reduced to 24 years in 2015 by imposing ban on the women aspiring to work in Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon and Malaysia.

In March 2017, the ParliamentInternational and Labour Relations Committee had instructed the government to impose ban on Nepali women taking up jobs in Gulf countries as housemaids.

However, various studies show that the ban did not stop women from going to Gulf countries, rather they opted for illegal means to go to Gulf countries for employment. The ban on women deprived them of job opportunities and undermined their abilities to become financially independent, the report further stated.

The government had taken such measures to protect women migrant workers from forced labour and other forms of exploitation. &However, these measures have not discouraged the agents active in sending women abroad through illegal means. If a woman goes for foreign employment through illegal means and she gets injured or dies during her illegal stay in the destination country, her family members will not get any kind of financial assistance from the government,& the NHRC said. If a woman interviewed by the NHRC is something to go by, some government employees themselves are actively involved in sending women to restricted countries on tourist visa.

Citing a study of Nepali Embassy in Saudi Arabia, the NHRC said there were around 70,000 Nepali women, who reached the Gulf country through illegal channel, till 2012. &A study by the International Organisation for Migration indicates that the restriction imposed by the government on women aspiring for foreign employment has failed to stop their flow,& the report stated.

&The ban or age bar on woman migrant workers is clearly discriminatory in view of foreign employment law of Nepal, international human rights law and ILO Convention. The government should realise that discriminatory provisions will not ensure protection of women,& the NHRC said.

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Kathmandu, July 25

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli sent a congratulatory message to the newly elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson.

In his message, the prime minister extended his best wishes to Johnson for his successful tenure as well as for the continued peace, progress and prosperity of the people of UK.

PM Oli also recalled his recent visit to UK and a meeting he had held with the outgoing PM Theresa May on important bilateral matters. He expressed his willingness to work closely with his British counterpart to further cement Nepal-UK bilateral ties, states a press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali also sent a message of congratulations to Dominic Raab, the newly appointed Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the United Kingdom. In his message, Gyawali expressed confidence that Nepal-UK friendship would continue to make further strides during Raabtenure.

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Kathmandu, July 25

Bribe solicitation by police officials continues to pose a threat to free and fair criminal investigation despite frequent sting operations conducted by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority.

The anti-graft body arrested two sub-inspectors red-handed while receiving a bribe of Rs 48,000 from a service-seeker last night. This is the third time police personnel have been held with graft amount in less than a week.

CIAA Spokesperson Joint Secretary Pradeep Kumar Koirala said Ramesh Bahadur Pandey and Raju Swarnakar of Gaushala-based Metropolitan Police Circle were caught red-handed while receiving bribe money on the premises of Kabeli Transportation Service Pvt Ltd in Kathmandu.

The sub-inspectors duo had sought the bribe for speedy settlement of cases lodged with MPC under Some Public (Crime and Punishment) Act, 1997.

On Monday, the CIAA arrested assistant sub-inspector Prem Bahadur Thapa of Bagaha Police Post, Rupandehi, with a bribe of Rs 3,500 that he had received from a businessman, promising to facilitate him in the sale and distribution of hardware goods. According to the anti-graft body, ASI Thapa had threatened to jeopardise his business if the businessman did not pay him the kickback.

Likewise, Constable Bharat Katuwal of Sunsari was arrested red-handed while receiving a bribe of Rs 5,000 from a transport entrepreneur. The traffic cop wanted the transport entrepreneur to pay him money for easy movement of a Kathmandu-Kakadbhitta bus.

Of late, public offices have been alerted against sting operations being stepped up by the CIAA by strengthening the information analysis unit to pursue reform, transparency and good governance in service delivery.

The anti-graft body said one person was arrested with bribe on an average of 2.07 work days during the fiscal 2018-19. It arrested and prosecuted 200 persons, including 161 government employees, during the period, the highest number in a fiscal.

Of the government employees, 33 were police personnel ranging from a deputy superintendent of police to constables. The CIAA warned that the arrest of highest number of government employees with bribe in the fiscal 2018-19 indicated the need for the CIAA to make more efforts to curb corruption and bribery in the public sector.

Persons involved in bribery are charged under Sub-Section (1) of Section 3 of the Prevention of Corruption Act in the case of government employees, while others working as their accomplices face action as per Sub-Section (2) of Section 3 of the same law at the Special Court.

A government employee convicted of bribery may be sent to jail for a term of up to 10 years, besides being disqualified to hold any government position in future.

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Kathmandu, July 25

The Supreme Court has ordered the Judicial Council to take action against three judges of Pokhara High Court for passing orders in a case that was not under their jurisdiction.

Those Pokhara High Court Judges who will face JC action include Jiwan Hari Adhikari, Nara Bahadur Shahi and Ramchandra Yadav. The order was passed by a single bench of Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana yesterday.

According to Information Officer of the Supreme Court Devendra Dhakal, the SC stayed the interim order passed by the single and division benches of Pokhara High Court and ordered the Judicial Council to take action against the three judges for acting beyond their jurisdiction in a case filed by Gorkha Brewery against the imposition of excise duty by a Bharatpur based Inland Revenue Office.

A single bench of Pokhara High Court Ram Chandra Yadav first issued an interim order in the case which was endorsed by the division bench of Jiwan Hari Adhikari and Nara Bahadur Shahi. Ranabench stayed the interim order passed by Pokhara High Court.

A SC source said Gorkha Brewery should have registered its writ petition at Patan High Court or its Hetauda bench, which falls under Province 3, but it filed its case at Pokhara High Court, which falls under Gandaki province.

Bharatpur Inland Revenue Office had challenged the Pokhara High Courtorder in the SC, arguing the High Courtorder was erroneous as it had acted beyond its jurisdiction. The SC is yet to prepare the written text of its order.

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