Writ against government order of asking migrant workers to bear certain costs of repatriation filed

Kathmandu, 3 June (2020) - A writ petition has been filed at the Supreme Court of Nepal against the “Order of the Government of Nepal, 2020” challenging the provision vis-a-vis the repatriation of Nepali migrant workers from destination countries at their own cost.

The provision of the Order requires migrant workers to bear the cost of the airfare and hotel quarantines and are inconsistent with the Constitution and governing legislation of Nepal. The provision in the Order (Paragraph 7(c) and 7(d)) regarding the cost of airfare and hotel quarantines to returnees from third countries and the cost of transportation from holding centers to local quarantine centers to the returnees from India border to be borne by returnees themselves contradicts with Section 75(2) of the Foreign Employment Act, 2004 on rescue and repatriation of migrant workers in a situation of disaster and distress, and Sec 33(1) on utilizing the foreign employment welfare fund for the purpose of rescue and repatriation.

The writ petition demands for bearing the cost of rescue and repatriation of the destitute and unemployed workers who are not in the capacity to bear the cost of both airfare and hotel quarantines by the State.

The writ application filed by Advocates Barun Ghimire, Prabin Subedi, Anurag Devkota, and Binaya Rimal has been registered and scheduled for June 7, 2020, Sunday for a preliminary hearing.