Protecting the Powerless

It is a great pride for us to know that Maiti Nepal founder Ms Anuradha Koirala: Protecting the Powerless has made it to the list of top 10 CNN heroes. She has been working in rescuing and rehabilitating the trafficked girls and women. She and her organization are globally very popular for their outstanding contributions to fighting against human trafficking. CNN, the reputed US-based international news channel, has been choosing people whose selfless contributions have brought about tremendous changes in the lives of poor and helpless people across the globe as its heroes for the past four years. On November 25, CNN will announce the winner of CNN hero from among the top 10 nominees on the basis of online voting. Therefore, I humbly appeal and request all of you to vote online as quick as possible in favor of her. She is really great!

You may go through the given link:

http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/archive10/anuradha.koirala.html

Once you open the page you will see in right side of her picture there is link in Red Color: Vote Now, afterward please follow the steps and go till you click VOTE with asked security code.

Alternatively, you may open:

http://heroes.cnn.com/vote.aspx

After opening the page you will see her picture in forth from left side and second from right side, once you click in her picture, you will see at last her picture as your selection, afterward please put the displayed number and click VOTE.

I would highly appreciate if you could forward the email at least ten people who are your good friends.

I hope you will certainly vote for her.

I thank you in advance.

Sincerely,

Krishna Hari Pushkar

Under Secretary, Government of Nepal

Weak State: Foreigners Disobeying the Laws of Nepal

(With special reference to Labour and Immigration Laws of Nepal)

By Krishna Hari Pushkar

In every country in the world, foreigners are required to have an employment permit from the respective government. If they do not consequences, such as immediate repatriation along with huge fines and imprisonments and even long term restriction in entry to the country can be implemented. In most of the country, the work permit is regulated by the joint mechanisms of the Labour Department and the Immigration System or something similar. Of course, the police is part of that, and a law enforcement agency can take immediate action if they find any foreigner working without obtaining the necessary labour/ employment permissions from respective authorities.

Nepal is a peculiar country in the world where massive numbers of foreigners have been working without obtaining necessary employment permit and appropriate visas. It is not limited to the private sector, but also in government-owned and popular multinational companies which have huge numbers of foreign employees against the provisions of Labour Law and the Immigration Law of Nepal. Massively, tourist visas and "not right visa" holders have found being employed by various government and nongovernmental sectors including hotels, restaurants, construction, and telecommunication, hydropower, banking areas and other systems of Nepal.

According to Labour Act, 2048 (1992) and Labour Rules, 2050 (1993), if a Nepalese citizen could not be available for any skilled technical post even after publishing an advertisement in a national-level public newspaper and journal, the manager may submit an application to the Department of Labour along with the evidence of such fact for approval to appoint a non-Nepalese citizen. If it is found, in conduction of an inquiry upon the submission of any application pursuant, that a Nepalese citizen would not be available for the skilled technical post mentioned in the application, the Department of Labour may, on the recommendation of the Labour Office, grant approval to engage a non-Nepalese citizen at work for a maximum period of up to five years not to exceed two years at a time and, in the specialized kind of skilled technical post, for a period of up to seven years. The manager who engages non-Nepalese citizens shall have to make arrangements for making the Nepalese citizens skilled and for replacing the non-Nepalese citizens gradually by them."

There is no concrete statistics on how many foreigners are working and being employed against the provisions of the Labour Law and Immigration Law of Nepal. It is estimated that more than fifty thousand foreigners are working and living illegally in Nepal without obtaining appropriate visa and permission from the Department of Labour. The Labour Law is equally applicable to all those foreigners who work in any factory, company, organization, association, firm, or group thereof, established under the prevailing laws for the purpose of operating any industry, profession or service where ten or more workers or employees are engaged ( Labour Act, 2048). But who cares?

Unfortunately the state is under transition and suffering with the dilemmas of a conflict /post conflict situation where everything is fragile. The state is not currently capable to regulate with impunity the foreigners and its employers.

There are rare histories and stories where Immigration, Police or Labour Departments' authorities have tried to regulate or monitor the issue. It should be the matter of concern for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs too, but no efforts have been found against such impunity of foreigners. Many times the media has reported that international criminals and smugglers have been using the territory of Nepal as their safe home since no productive regulation, monitoring, observation and surveillances are being used to manage the presence and activity of foreigners.

Unfortunately, in the port of entry or in diplomatic missions of Nepal, we issue visas to almost all foreigners without analyzing and assessing the applications and their backgrounds in most cases. Very often we do not verify the negative list that comes from the international or national security surveillances or intelligence system. In practice, we just issue tourist visas to all foreigners who seek to enter Nepal, no matter what their purposes are, and how long, and where and how they want to stay.

In most developed countries of the world, labour or employment permits are being obtained either by the employer or by the potential employee in advance as a precondition before applying for employment/work visa. And in some of the countries, the selected foreign employee gets a short term non-tourist visa in the port of entry or can obtain it from a respective diplomatic mission after furnishing all necessary documents. Afterward the visa gets extended after arrival once the employees or respective employers fulfill all terms and conditions and obtain employment permits and approval from the department of labour or similar authorities. In most of the countries immigration authority issues, like a renewal resident e-card, contains the information detailing the status of the particular foreigners, so they do not have to carry the passport and visa all the time.

In Nepal, there is pitiable coordinating among the respective authorities on the issue. The Labour Department, Immigration Department and other sectorial department and ministries rarely share and coordinate the information, or even use joint efforts to address the issues of disobeying and impunity of foreigners that would compel them to respect and follow the laws of Nepal.

The national security mechanism, including the Chief District Officer, Nepal Police, and National Investigation Department are also among accountable authorities to control and manage the unlawful acts and presence of foreigners, but these are not effective and never come into action against the foreigners till they commit serious crimes or are involved in aggressive public demonstrations, activities and issues of public interest that affect the public and nation on a massive level.

It is neither the employer nor the foreign employees in Nepal themselves who are serious about Immigration and the Labour Law of Nepal. Some of them don't even know about the laws. Additionally, there is also corruption, manipulation and irregularities that exist in the system that empower and gives courage to foreign employees and their employers in Nepal to ignore the spirit and provisions of the law.

Also, the law is itself faulty in a sense of clearness and procedural aspects. These laws can be easily manipulated, defined and executed in accordance with the discretion of authorities. The respective law enforcement authorities cannot execute it properly because of lack of resources, trained human resources, ICT, and scientific service delivery culture. So, the government should immediately address the problems and difficulties by arranging joint efforts for betterment, effectiveness and efficiency of these laws and the concerned authority.

Some immediate actions are essential; first, the government should instantly issue a public notice describing the provisions in terms of appropriate visa and labour/employment permissions along with times detailed. Secondly, a joint operation team can be formed containing the representation from necessary law enforcement authorities that need a massive operation in various sectors and geographical areas of Nepal especially in potential sectors and areas where foreigners are illegally and irregularly employed. Indeed, the Department of Immigration and Department of Labour should start regular and strategic inspections and monitor work to check and control illegal and irregular activities and the presence of foreigners. The employment/labour permits should be made mandatory before-hand to issue or extend visas for a particular period. By Law, both employees and employers should be made equally responsible for the labour/employment/permit and appropriate visas.

Furthermore, the Department of Immigration, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Department of Labour must share the detailed information on the presence and job activities of foreigners who are employed or seeking to get employment in Nepal. At the end of the every year, the Department of Immigration and Labour should produce a yearly report describing in detail the employers who have recruited foreigners and also about the foreign employees themselves, their work detail and how long they are in Nepal under the definition of employment.

The horrible trend should be controlled immediately; otherwise it will be a threat on governance systems, the socio-economic situation, national security, sovereignty, and the financial system. Therefore, the government should immediately get rid of any disobeyers of the law. However, in the long-term, the Government of Nepal needs to form a team or commission of experts to review, revise, restructure and improve the overall system of Immigration and Employment Management of foreigners in Nepal.

Mr. Krishna Hari Pushkar writes about social issues, security and conflict management, often in relation to Nepal. An Under Secretary of Government in Nepal, he is well honored as a Peace, Security and Conflict Management Professional, who contributes regularly to national and international nongovernmental organizations as a peace and conflict management expert.

Source: http://newsblaze.com/story/20100801122441abha.nb/topstory.html

UNMIN's Reintegration Plan is Under Fire in Nepal

Krishna Hari Pushkar

The United Nation Mission in Nepal (UNMIN)'s has imported and now introduced a sixty weeks reintegration plan for ex-Maoist Combatants in Nepal. It has come in a crucial strategic period and political transition period of Nepal. The UNMIN is being accused that it has been working against its mandate and favoring particular political powers and ideologies. Often, UNMIN tries to intervene in domestic political affairs, which crosses its limitation. In the past, the chief of UNMIN was about to be declared Persona non grata. Today, Nepal has just a caretaker government and is suffering from political limbo. As many of us know, the ongoing political escapades in Nepal are not favorable for an effective and successful implementation of a comprehensive peace process and related plans.

The "Reintegration Plan" of the UNMIN has come as a nasty surprise for domestic peace stakeholders, because the plan was supposed to come after political consensus and proper homework - respecting the aspirations and needs of the nation. It did not, however, come in the right time, right manner, right way and by the right authority. It is nothing special, just a way to please donors in the community; to allow the UN General Secretary to be safe; and to sustain both his job and the life of UNMIN in Nepal. It is an open secret to all that the ill-fated plan cannot work for reintegration.

Naturally, the plan has come under serious dispute and has been straightforwardly rejected by the head of the Government and its coalition parties, which should be regarded as a major fault of the plan. On the one hand, the Prime Minister Mr. Nepal has already threatened UNMIN against its so-called reintegration plan and on the other hand the Maoist has also expressed its strategic discrepancy by developing its own party's reintegration plan. On the other side, the ex Maoist combatants and other stakeholders including civil societies, private communities and general citizens are also not happy with the plan. Its simple--no one is happy except the employees and allies of UNMIN.

There are lots of problems with the plan. First, it sounds like its prepared in an academic manner, ignoring the sensitivity of local socioeconomic and political scenario. It seems the plan is designed and developed by those experts who are aware about the literature and story but not about the facts, local context and relevant contents of Nepal.

Secondly, it has no participatory planning characters that are must for any reintegration plan. Third, it has neither sustainability measures about the plan nor is it owned by government or the particular authority e.g. state/executive or parliamentary committees, civil society, local government or any authorities that are directly supported and authorized by the government. It is because the government is the only authority who has ultimate and final accountability to manage and deal with pre to post phases of reintegration and to entire processes with its citizens. It is not just a matter of peace and politics--it has to do with national and internal laws too. Furthermore, it is also true that the UNMIN has not worked properly in profiling and opportunity mapping areas that are a must for any successful reintegration plan. Thus, the locals in Nepal consider the aired reintegration plan as an authoritative/interventional course of action.

In my observation, UNMIN and respective outsiders should pay more attention and need to be careful about its given mandate and legitimized role. They should understand "reintegration" is not like distributing food packets or organizing seminar projects. The reintegration is related to the past and the long term future of the nation’s people, as well as its peace, polity, and governance related affairs.

It has broader areas and scope, which has a lot to do with political consensus and agreements. So, they must attempt to work on a pre-policy impact assessment approach and must use the conflict sensitivity analysis while working on such crucial plans, policies, programs and projects in such a conflict-affected fragile country like Nepal, which is a among the poorest countries of the world. It is on the one hand a post-conflict nation and on the other hand it has severe ongoing arm ethno-regional-political insurgencies in various parts of Nepal. The reintegration plan has direct relations and links with other ongoing insurgency groups and its insurgents' arm group, so it need be clarified before to introduce such policy and plan. Though, UNMIN has not yet presented any strategy to address the issue in their so called advertised disabled reintegration plan, which is unfortunate one. UNMIN must know that any reintegration plan should not undermine the contemporary sociopolitical situation or the sustainability of its long term management while introducing the reintegration plan.

Sadly, the UNMIN has failed to recognize even the existing and potential actors of reintegration. The UNMIN deliberately failed to consider the importance of, or to coordinate with the various stakeholders in different layers. Therefore, the UNMIN must correct its roles and activities regarding the reintegration of ex combatants in Nepal, otherwise, such plans could add more political tension and confusion over the peace process in an upcoming day in Nepal. The poorly designed reintegration plan may push the nation into further conflict and political polarization. It could stymie the entire ongoing peace process. Of course it would be vexing to bring the peace process into its logical end.

Any plan from the UNMIN that may assist the mismanagement of ex combatants and their future should not come into the nation. The UNMIN has no rights or authority to play with the future of the nation and its citizens. The time will come soon where the state will get stronger, and will be compelled to take action against the UNMIN--and declare their officials Persona non gratae, if they continue such activities in the upcoming days.

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