Kathmandu. KATHMANDU: The stakeholders have demanded an amendment to the law to implement the Non-Resident Nepali Citizenship (NRC). Speaking at the fourth session of the 12th convention of the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) and the world conference on ‘Rights of Nepali Diaspora and Distinguished Labour Migration’, the speakers said that although the constitution has given economic, social and cultural rights, the NRNA citizenship has not touched it.
They have also demanded that the problems of British Gurkhas and PNOs Nepalis should be addressed at the policy level. Constituent Assembly member and senior advocate Radheshyam Adhikari said although the constitution has guaranteed economic, social and cultural rights to the Nepali citizens, it has not been implemented yet. According to him, although the Citizenship Act has been enacted, other acts have not been implemented due to lack of amendment. According to him, the constitution has made provision that what Nepali citizens get is the same as non-resident Nepalis except political.
“Today, 10 years after the promulgation of the constitution,” he said. He said that the law commission prepared a unified bill in coordination with the concerned ministries and submitted it to the government, but the bill was not forwarded. “The bill was well written on how to connect Nepalis with foreign countries, how to bring migrants with investment and create conducive environment. Now the new government should pay attention to this. Let the new parliament make laws. We need to pave the way for Nepal’s progress,” he said.
NRNA President Binod Kunwar complained that the non-resident citizenship card was not as useful as the NRNA card. He said that the facility of the card for obtaining NRNA citizenship has also been reduced. He questioned why the ban was not implemented by the political level in Nepal, why it was not implemented in the constitution and why the political parties did not cooperate. He said that the rights of citizenship should be implemented and voting rights should also be given.
NRNA vice-president Ram Sharan Simkhada drew the attention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to address the procedural problems facing the non-resident Nepalis. He said that the problem of PNO is also well known. He asked where the G2G report is between Nepal and the UK. He also asked the PNO why he was stopped from coming. He also asked about the intention of collaborating with NRNA for the rehabilitation of Nepalis in the Gulf region.
Gopal Dhital, General Secretary of People Nepalese Origin (PNO), said that the PNOs who had migrated outside the country during different periods are looking for Nepali identity and trying to connect with Nepal economically, socially and culturally. “There are 3 million in Myanmar. In Thailand, there are 80 to 1 lakhs. They are also in Malaysia and Fiji. They all want to connect with the motherland. You want to be a partner in happiness and sorrow,” he said.
He said that NRNA and PNO are ready to provide any kind of support to the government for this. According to him, PNO’s children want to study in Nepal and they want to come to the country to help and connect. Expressing his desire to be associated with Nepal’s development, progress and progress, he requested the government to facilitate in visa arrangements.
General Secretary of British Gurkha Citizenship Campaign, Hom Kirat Sunuwar, said that the brave Gurkhas have been fighting for the peace of the world but have been fighting for their rights for two hundred years. Stating that he got a resident visa in the UK while fighting, he said it was unfortunate that the Gurkhas were not included in the constitution despite an agreement between the two governments. Stating that he disagreed with the inclusion of Gorkhas in the NRNA, he said that the agreement between the two governments should give citizenship to the Gorkhas as per the citizenship of the descendants.
He said that he had informed the concerned ministry when the citizenship bill was introduced but no action was taken. He said that now that the government is changing, he hopes that the rights of the citizens will be fulfilled. According to Joint Secretary Ramkaji Khadka, West Asia Coordinator of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 18 lakh Nepalis in the Middle East are at risk due to geopolitical complexities in the Middle East.
He said that there was increased collateral vulnerability, lack of timely information due to language problems, increasing financial pressure on the newly arrived Nepalis, fear of losing their jobs, Nepali passengers in transit also stranded due to flight disruption due to bombing and rescue of students. He said that work is being done by setting up an emergency control room under the leadership of the Foreign Secretary. The Prime Minister and the Minister for Foreign Affairs have been keeping a dialogue with various international organisations and heads of the States concerned about their concern, he added. He said that all other measures have been adopted for security by collecting data of the people at risk and they are also collaborating with NRNA in this regard.
ILO’s senior programme officer Basanta Karki said the local office was working for the welfare of migrant workers. Stating that the main concern is how to protect the affected workers, he said that talks are being held with the government to ensure the rights of the workers. He said that if there is a situation of rescue and rehabilitation, we will coordinate with the concerned countries. He said that the ILO would also coordinate with the NRNA in rescue and relief. He said that their concern is to ensure the safety and rights of the workers and work is being done on that.
Labor migration expert Rameshwor Nepal of Equedem Research Nepal said that while going for foreign employment, some employers and countries sending employment should pay attention to the fundamental rights. Violence is also taking place over language, religion and culture, he said. He said that the word ‘rights’ is not mentioned in the Foreign Employment Act and the state itself has taken a discriminatory policy and it has not taken a stand that it should ensure the fundamental rights. He said that the mission has not been able to provide security to the domestic workers when they are not in a position to report that they have been wronged, there is a problem in the policy and there is a lack of manpower in the embassy. He pointed out the need for policy reform and review of trade.
President of the Returnee Federation Binod Bhattarai said that the understanding of the returnees who returned from foreign employment could achieve prosperity by utilizing their knowledge, skills and capital was not enough. He said that the problems of foreign employment have continued in recent days and the Returnees Federation has facilitated the retrieval of the dead bodies. He said that the problems of Europe have not been addressed by the state. He asked the government to think about the management of the return to Nepal and the status of economic transformation in the society when the problems in the Middle East were aggravated. He said that the Returnee Federation is focusing on connecting those who have returned abroad with production and it is imperative to increase collaboration with NRNA to connect them with entrepreneurship.
NRNA Citizenship Focal Person Saroj Dahal suggested the foreign ministry officials to include the issues of citizenship, Gorkha, PNO and other issues in the amendment to the Non-Resident Act to be tabled in the upcoming parliament. “We will now incorporate all the issues so that we do not have to propose any amendment in the bill to be tabled in the parliament,” he said.
Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Krishna Dhakal moderated the session. In the end, Dhakal said that the issues raised in the session have been seriously noticed and promised to send them in writing to include them in the upcoming policy and program. Stating that the Foreign Minister and Secretary were taking the issue of NRNA in top priority, he said the Foreign Ministry wanted unity and collaboration of NRNA. He also expressed the hope that there would be more participation in the journey of development and prosperity. He also appealed to the people to contribute to building the future.
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