INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KATHMANDU: A show-cause notice has been issued by the Supreme Court to the government for not paying repatriation and quarantine expenses of
Nepali migrant workers who have been stuck in different countries due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
A single bench of Chief Justice
Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana issued the notice, on Sunday.
The notice was issued by the apex court in response to a writ petition filed at the
Supreme Court against the &Order of the Government of Nepal, 2020&, challenging the provision regarding repatriation of Nepali migrant
workers from destination countries at their own cost.
The writ application — filed by Advocates Barun Ghimire, Prabin Subedi, Anurag
Devkota, and Binaya Rimal — had been scheduled for a preliminary hearing on June 7.
The provision of the Order requiring the migrant
workers to bear the cost of airfare and hotel quarantines are inconsistent with the Constitution and governing legislation of Nepal, stated
Advocate Barun Ghimire.
The provision in the Order (Paragraph 7(c) and 7(d)) regarding the cost of airfare and hotel quarantines for
returnees from third countries and the cost of transportation from holding centres to local quarantine centres for returnees from India to
be borne by the 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 utilising the foreign employment welfare fund for the purpose of
rescue and repatriation.
The writ petition demands that the government bear the cost of rescue and repatriation of the disadvantaged and
unemployed workers — who are not in a position to bear such expenses themselves — including airfare and hotel quarantines.
The petition
was filed on June 3 against the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers; Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security;
Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation; Ministry of Health and Population; and Foreign Employment
Board Secretariat.
Writ filed at apex court demanding repatriation of Nepali migrant workers at govt expenses
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notice to govt for failing to pay migrants& repatriation expenses appeared first on The Himalayan Times.
