Nepali team suggests lifting of ban on sending workers to Afghanistan

Kathmandu, Aug 28 (IANS) A fact-finding team formed by the Nepal government has recommended lifting of the ban on sending workers to war-torn Afghanistan by ensuring that they get adequate security, it was reported on Sunday.

"I have received the report of the fact-finding mission recently and I have submitted it to newly-appointed Minister Surya Man Gurung," Xinhua news agency quoted Bishnu Prasad Lamsal, Secretary at the Ministry of Labour and Employment, as saying.

"Once the Minister studies the report, further action will be decided."

As many as 12 Nepali and two Indian nationals working as security guards in the Canadian embassy in Kabul were killed in a Taliban attack on June 20.

Abha Shrestha, Joint Secretary in the ministry, who was part of the Nepali fact-finding mission, said the recommendation for the lifting of the ban on sending workers to Afghanistan was made as per the wish of Nepalis working in the war-torn country.

"During our visit, we interacted with over 2,000 Nepali people working in different camps in Afghanistan," she said. "More than 99 per cent of them suggested lifting of the ban."

Besides recommending lifting of the ban, the team has also suggested ensuring that Nepali workers work only inside the Green Zone in Kabul where the United Nations bodies and other diplomatic agencies are present.

Over the last decade, about 8,800 Nepali have gone to Afghanistan after taking permit from the government authorities, according to the ministry.