UCPN (Maoist) leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha has requested the Qatar government to help Nepal send migrant workers to the emirate in a free-visa-free-ticket arrangement.

Shrestha, a former deputy PM and foreign minister, met Qatari Minister of Administrative Development and Labour and Social Affairs Issa bin Saad al-Jafali al-Nuaimi on Saturday and urged him to help in the implementation of Nepal’s free-visa-free-ticket policy to send Nepalis to work in Qatar.

Shrestha is in Qatar to attend the general convention of the Maoist-associated Janapragatishil Manch.

“The Nepal government is seriously working to send workers to Qatar without charges for visa and [air] ticket,” said Shrestha, requesting Minister Nuaimi to monitor Qatari companies which arrange for Nepalis to work in the oil-rich country.

Minister Nuaimi informed that the Qatari government has amended laws for the welfare of migrants and made it mandatory for companies to pay workers through banks.

Nuaimi also assured of solving problems related to Nepalis if Nepal’s embassy reported them. He requested the Nepal government to make worker departures to Qatar hassle-free.

Migrants going to work in Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman can avail of the free-visa-free-ticket provision. 

However, they need to pay for pre-departure training, orientation, health check-up and welfare fund premium.

They may also have to pay Rs10,000 to recruiting agencies in service charge if their employers do not bear the cost. But there is a dispute between recruiting firms and the government about its implementation.