NEPAL has placed an indefinite freeze on its citizens coming to work in Malaysia with immediate effect, due to its unhappiness with Putrajaya’s foreign recruitment policies, The Star reports.

Nepal Embassy labour attache Sanmaya Ramtel confirmed the ban, saying the Nepalese government action was in protest of “restrictive” immigration requirements for employment, said the report.

These requirements include security and medical check-ups conducted via a private agent.

Ramtel did not name the agent but Bestinet Sdn Bhd, a company linked to former deputy home minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, is reported to have been granted the sole right to carry out bio-medical screening for migrant workers entering Malaysia.

“The Nepalese government does not understand why the Malaysian government is allowing a private company to monopolise the recruitment process,” Ramtel was quoted as saying.

“The government also feels that the company’s presence is a virtual monopoly as other companies are not allowed to carry out the screening and this contributes to higher cost for the workers.”

She said the recruitment process was a matter of “long-standing dispute between the Nepalese and Malaysian governments”.

“However, the change of government in Nepal which took place in February this year saw the new government taking a firm stand on the matter,” Sanmaya said.

The Nepali workers’ ban could hit hard the security services industry  Security Services Association of Malaysia president Mustapa Ali said in the report that as many as 5,000 vacancies in the industry were unable to be filled.

Malaysia is reported to be a top destinations for Nepalese migrant workers seeking job opportunities abroad. Thanks to the reputation of the Gurkhas, they are the only category of foreign workers sought by Malaysia to work in the security industry.

There are more than 500,000 Nepalese workers currently in the country, about 150,000 of which are hired as security guards and the rest in the construction and manufacturing sectors.

After Indonesia, Nepal is the supplier of the most foreign workers to Malaysia. – July 28, 2018.