Nepal’s Department of Foreign Employment has given people who have yet to respond to arrest warrants in foreign employment-related cases 35 days to contact the authorities, warning that their bank accounts and travel could be restricted if they fail to appear. The notice comes as the department investigates Malaysia’s selection of 25 Nepali recruitment agencies to recruit workers for the country.

The department had obtained authorisation from the Foreign Employment Tribunal to issue arrest warrants against the owners of the 25 agencies so it could question them in connection with the selection process. One of the agency owners, Rabin Gurung, has been taken into custody.

In a notice issued on Monday, the department called on those who had failed to respond to previously issued arrest warrants in foreign employment-related cases to contact the department or Nepal Police within 35 days of the notice’s publication.

Those who fail to appear within the deadline could face further legal action under the Foreign Employment Act, 2007, and other applicable laws, the department said. The measures could include freezing bank accounts used for financial transactions and restricting travel.

In the third week of August, Malaysia selected recruitment agencies from 10 labour-sending countries, including Nepal, to supply workers to the country. It selected 25 Nepali agencies as “principal agencies” and another 250 as “support agencies”.

The Ministry of Youth, Labour and Employment directed the department to investigate why Malaysia had selected only 25 principal agencies from Nepal and take action where necessary. The department initially issued arrest warrants against the owners of the principal agencies to obtain their statements.

The agencies had earlier submitted six-point explanations to the department. Officials sought details about why and how the firms had been registered with Malaysia’s Foreign Worker Centralised Management System (FWCMS), the criteria and evaluation methods used to select them, and the process through which they were approved.

The department also asked which authorities had recommended or approved their registration, whether their inclusion in the system restricted competition among Nepali recruitment agencies, and whether any unlawful financial activity had occurred. It further sought clarification on whether the process violated the Foreign Employment Act, 2007, the Foreign Employment Rules, 2008, or other applicable laws.

The department has already halted the issuance of pre-approval for labour permits to the selected agencies until the investigation and legal proceedings are completed.

The agency owners, however, say they are ready to cooperate with the investigation.

“The Labour Ministry has held discussions with us only once. Following that discussion, we also submitted a written request asking that we be removed from Malaysia’s Foreign Worker Centralised Management System through diplomatic channels,” one agency owner told Kantipur. “We have already submitted all the documents the department requested concerning our companies’ transactions. We are ready to cooperate with the investigation.”

On August 22, Malaysia’s Ministry of Human Resources issued a statement announcing a new procedure for recruiting foreign workers. Under the system, Malaysian employers would be allowed to recruit workers only through agencies registered with FWCMS.

The system lists 25 recruitment agencies from Nepal, 99 from the Philippines, 40 each from Sri Lanka and Vietnam, 25 from Bangladesh, 23 from Cambodia, 10 each from India, Myanmar and Pakistan, and one from Thailand.

Nepal has objected to Malaysia’s selection process. Talks between the two countries at prime ministerial and labour ministerial levels have yet to resolve the dispute.

During a telephone conversation with his Malaysian counterpart, Nepal’s Labour Minister Ramjee Yadav urged Malaysia to include all licensed Nepali recruitment agencies in FWCMS and reconsider its selection criteria.

Malaysia, however, has sent a diplomatic note reiterating that it would recruit Nepali workers only through the 25 selected agencies.