Kathmandu, Jan. 6: The Embassy of Nepal in Pretoria, South Africa, has issued a travel advisory for Nepali nationals in the wake of the increased cases of human traffickers and manpower agents taking Nepalis illegally to South Africa via various African or Indian cities or leaving them stranded on the way.
Of late, youth in Nepal are illusioned by the human traffickers that it would be easy to go to Europe and America from South Africa and the latter take millions of rupees and send them here via various countries in Asia and Africa, said the embassy in the advisory issued on Thursday.
The traffickers have been using New Delhi and Mumbai of India, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Asia, and Tanzania, Mozambique, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Congo and other countries in Africa as the transit to take Nepali nationals to South Africa. “They are brought to South Africa in a very difficult and risky manner while many are left stranded in various places enroute in extreme conditions,” read the advisory.
The embassy has requested the concerned people to refrain from such illegal activities and to be aware of the fact that the act of engaging in foreign employment or other similar temptations, taking a large amount of money and bringing a person abroad is punishable.
According to the embassy, a notice published in the Official Gazette of South Africa on August 2, 2022, mentions that there is a legal arrangement to employ foreign nationals only in cases where the positions of 140 types of skilled manpower requiring special knowledge and skills are not filled by native citizens.
Even if any Nepali is fit to apply for or be recruited in any of such positions, they should mandatorily obtain ‘labour approval’ from the government of Nepal. The list of such positions is available online in the website of the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) of South Africa.
The schedule published by the DHA gives a detailed information about the occupations and positions that could be taken by the foreign nationals, their description, minimum qualification required and professional body of registration. For example, Policy and Planning Manager’s job description is to plan, develop, organise, direct, control and coordinate policy advice and strategic planning within organisation. It requires minimum qualification of Bachelor Honours Degree, Postgraduate Diploma, or Bachelor’s Degree, and such professional should be registered with the relevant professional body, council or board recognised by the South African government.
Likewise, since the tourist visa issued by the South African High Commissioner and Consulate General in India is only for the purpose of going to South Africa on a tourist visit, it is not possible to engage in employment based on that visa.
As it is illegal to engage in any kind of employment on a tourist visa, the persons involved in such activities will be arrested by the relevant South African authorities and punished and fined according to the law and deported, read the advisory. “It is misleading and false that it is easy to go from South Africa to Europe, America and other countries as a visa of the respective country is required to go to any country,” said the
embassy and requested that for visa related information, contact the embassy of the respective country or the Nepali missions abroad to get official information.
It said that Nepali citizens can reach out to the embassy via eonpretoria@mofa.gov.np or hotline number with WhatsApp 0027765093941.
Superintendent of Police Dan Bahadur Malla, who is also Spokesperson for the Anti-Human Trafficking Bureau of Nepal Police, said that the issues of Nepalis being trafficked to various African countries have come to the notice of police but no complain has been filed by anyone yet.
“There are many complaints from the Middle East and East Asian nations, and many Nepali nationals have been rescued, but we have not got any complaint from those exploited in the African countries,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Embassy of Nepal in London, the United Kingdom, Friday issued a notice that it had not issued any notice on ‘UK Seasonal Visa’.
A notice was published in a letter head of the embassy four days ago informing that the date of the interview for Seasonal Worker Visa is changed. “The notice is published by faking the letter head, seal and signature of the Embassy of Nepal in London. So, this embassy requests to all concerned not to apply for the visa on the basis of that notice,” read a notice of the embassy.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 7 January 2023.
No comments:
Post a Comment