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Kathmandu, Nov 27: The Department of Foreign Employment has been issuing individual labour approvals for Nepalis traveling to Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos without getting verification from the Nepali embassies responsible for those countries. Many of these workers later ended up trapped in illegal online rackets, leaving the embassies overwhelmed with rescue requests.

Over the past three years and four months, Nepali embassies in Myanmar and Thailand have rescued more than 300 Nepalis. Most had gone abroad after being promised attractive jobs and were forced to work in illegal online scamming hubs engaged in dating fraud, casino operations, gaming scams, phishing and crypto fraud. Since mid April 2025 alone, the embassy in Bangkok has rescued 67 Nepalis. Another 29 Nepalis are still waiting for rescue, including 23 in Myanmar’s Myawaddy, 2 in Thailand’s Mae Sot and 4 in Cambodia.

Almost all rescued victims had travelled with individual labour permits issued by the department. Officials at the embassies say the department never requested any verification. Nepali Ambassador to Thailand Dhan Bahadur Wali said the embassy has not received a single inquiry about companies hiring Nepali workers. The ambassador to Myanmar, Harishchandra Ghimire, said the same, adding that verification from the embassy is supposed to be mandatory before approvals are issued.

Due to this gap, Nepalis are ending up in dangerous work sites and, in some cases, being forced into criminal activity. The department says verification is mandatory only for Gulf countries and Malaysia. It claims no one has filed complaints about being cheated in these four countries. Still, data shows 723 Nepalis received individual labour approvals for these destinations in the past four years and four months. Cambodia alone received 412 Nepalis, followed by Thailand with 233, Laos with 73 and Myanmar with 5. Many who took approvals for Thailand, Laos or Cambodia were routed to Myanmar, where 264 Nepalis have been rescued from Myawaddy during this period.

The trend is rising. Individual labour approvals for these destinations increased each year, reaching 279 in the last fiscal year and 95 in the first four months of the current year.

People’s News Monitoring Service