Row over illegal foreigners working in INGOs in Nepal

53 organizations face action for illegally hiring foreigners

SAGAR GHIMIRE

KATHMANDU, Jan 18: The government has taken action against 53 organizations for employing 108 foreigners, who had not acquired work permit for employment in Nepal, as per the Labor Act 1992 and Nepal Government Business Allocation Regulations 2012. 

The Department of Labor (DoL) extracted Rs 10,000 in fine from each of the 103 foreign workers from 50 different organizations for taking up employment in Nepal without acquiring work permit. 

Those facing government action include INGOs, NGOs, colleges, schools, hospitals and private firms, among others. However, the department has provided the non-Nepali employees of these organizations six-month work permit. 

"We fined the organizations for violating the labor law by employing foreigners without work permit," Krishna Hari Pushkar, director general of DoL told Republica. He said the department later issued them work permits after they applied for the same.

DoL had asked these organizations to furnish clarification for employing foreigners without work permit. "We will renew their work permits only if they abide by the law," said Pushkar.

Likewise, DoL has rejected applications of five foreigners seeking work permits as they did not meet eligibility criteria for employment in Nepal. According to DoL, these include three non-Nepalis employed by Ncell, one by Upper Trishuli 3A and one by Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Ltd (KUKL). 

According to Pushkar, DoL has also sought action against The Carter Center and Lincoln School for hiring foreign nationals illegally. Meanwhile, DoL has also issued a new guideline on January 10 to make the process of issuing work permits simple, transparent and effective. 

DoL has also provided a three-month grace period for those who have been working without valid work permits to apply for permit renewal. "Action would not be taken against those who renew their work permits within the grade period. However, we will take action if such foreign employees do not renew their work permits within the grace period," Pushkar warned. It is estimated that around 20,000 foreigners are working in different sectors without acquiring work permit.

Press release by AIN

(prepared 20 January)

SHORT

VERSION

On behalf of its 110 INGO members, the Association of International NGOs in Nepal (AIN) hereby clarifies that non-Nepalis serving as Country Heads, experts or staff members in its member INGOs had not been working illegally as reported in a spate of recent news items, including those published inRepublica daily newspaper.

 

Since the early 1990s, non-Nepali INGO professionals had been working in Nepal as per two legally valid provisions. First, each non-Nepali INGO professional was hired on the basis of verified, recommended and signed general and project agreements with the Social Welfare Council (SWC). Second, each of SWC's approval was further endorsed by the Government of Nepal so that the concerned INGOs could make necessary arrangements to legally hire the approved number of non-Nepali professionals for a duration of time.

 

The Social Welfare Act of BS 2049 says that the SWC is the focal government institution which deals with all INGO matters. Respecting this provision, the AIN and its INGO members had long been abiding by the SWC's recommendations and the subsequent governmental endorsements to hire non-Nepali INGO professionals. If this background information is left out, it becomes both disingenuous and misleading to report – that too, without asking a single AIN representative to offer the other side of the story -- that INGOs had been illegally hiring non-Nepali professionals.

 

As development partners, AIN and its member INGOs are fully committed to abide by the laws of the country. AIN urges for better coordination among different governmental entities so that there is clarity with regard to the nature of INGOs' work (i.e. social service and development) and the processes which foster the growth of such work in Nepal.

 

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LONG

VERSION

 

On behalf of its 110 INGO members, the Association of International NGOs in Nepal (AIN) hereby clarifies that non-Nepalis serving as Country Heads, experts or staff members in its member INGOs had not been working illegally as reported in a spate of recent news items, including those published inRepublica daily newspaper.

 

Since the early 1990s, non-Nepali INGO professionals had been working in Nepal as per two legally valid provisions. First, each non-Nepali INGO professional was hired on the basis of verified, recommended and signed general and project agreements with the Social Welfare Council (SWC). Second, each of SWC's approval to hire the needed number non-Nepali INGO professionals was further endorsed by the Government of Nepal so that the concerned INGOs could make necessary arrangements to legally hire the approved number of non-Nepali professionals for a duration of time.

 

The Social Welfare Act of BS 2049 says that the SWC is the focal government institution which deals with all INGO matters. Respecting this provision, the AIN and its INGO members had long been abiding by the SWC's recommendations and the subsequent governmental endorsements to hire non-Nepali INGO professionals. If this background information is left out, it becomes both disingenuous and misleading to report – that too, without asking a single AIN representative to offer the other side of the story -- that INGOs had been illegally hiring non-Nepali professionals.

 

The story here is that socially serving INGOs have been caught between the old practice, which was facilitated by the SWC, and the recently introduced practice, which is facilitated by the Department of Labour. For visa purposes, the latter sees no difference between a non-Nepali commercial worker in the profit-making sector and a non-Nepali INGO professional in the development sector. As such, at recent visa renewal times, those non-Nepali INGO professionals who had followed the old, established practice and had obtained legally valid visas in the past were made to feel that the process they followed was illegal. As punishment, they were each made to pay a fine of Rs. 10,000.  

 

As development partners, AIN and its member INGOs are fully committed to abide by the laws of the country. But problems continue to arise when various laws are interpreted differently by different government agencies to make the INGOs run from pillar to post to address their concerns. One set of laws make the SWC the focal government body to resolve all INGO-related concerns. These laws further favour the effective implementation of a one-door policy by the SWC for all INGOs. But another set of laws is interpreted loosely in the media to portray INGOs' hiring work as illegal. This persistent confusion neither creates goodwill nor helps with better regulation of INGOs' work. Against this background, AIN urges for better coordination among different governmental entities so that there is clarity with regard to the nature of INGOs' work (i.e. social service and development) and the processes which foster the growth of such work in Nepal.