Nepal’s takeover of Migrant Resource Centres highlights digital transformation challenge

In Nepal, Migrant Resource Centres (MRCs) are located outside of passport offices to serve applicants before they move on to submit their biometrics for their passports. The centers are part of the Safer Migration Project (SaMi), a joint initiative between the Swiss and Nepalese government. Now, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), co-funder of the centers, is moving on to serve the initiative in an advisory capacity, leaving critics concerned that the program won’t survive solely under Nepalese government leadership, according to a Swiss Info article.

SaMi was implemented by Nepal’s Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security and 156 participating local governments. There are currently MRCs based in 38 of Nepal’s 77 districts. The Swiss NGO Helvetas provides technical assistance for the centers on behalf of the SDC.

MRCs are the first point of contact for information for those interested in working or studying abroad. The centers are voluntary and are not a part of the passport application process.

Two counselors will give migration advice to Nepalese who intend to work or study outside the country to help them avoid being victims of fraud and to provide information in the event of an emergency abroad.

From 2019 to 2022, Nepali migrant workers filed more than 1,300 cases related to fraud, abuse and exploitation at the Foreign Employment Tribunal, a semi-judicial fast-track court. Workers also issued another 630,089 labor approvals from 2021 to 2022.

Nepal has seen a few major pitfalls through the years of implementing biometric passport systems. Cybersecurity experts called on the country to pass comprehensive data protection laws. Moreover, an identity verification contract was stripped from Idemia’s Advantage International and then awarded to a company owned by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, triggering a government probe into the transaction. As a result, some worry about whether the Nepali government has the institutional strength to keep the program afloat.

The health of the domestic economy depends significantly on migrant workers. When the SDC helped start the first phase of the program in 2011, migrants were contributing CHF3.5 billion (US$4.2 billion) in remittances, or 22.3 percent of GDP. At the time, few safeguards were in place for workers.

So far, the SaMi project has served 500,000 migrants, helped secure CHF4.75 million ($5.3 million) in legal compensation and trained 8,000 migrants to earn higher incomes.

The SaMi project is closing in on its penultimate phase, spanning from 2018-2024. The Nepalese government pledged CHF10.4 million (US$11.5 million) of this phase’s CHF 32 million ($35 million) budget. The final phase of SaMi is expected to last between three and four years. Nepal is expected to cover all the project’s running costs while the SDC only offers advisory support.

The SDC knows “that there is a frequent change in government. By the time there is a commitment, the minister and secretary have already changed,” says Sharu Joshi, an independent expert on foreign labor migration and employment. “They should have had more informal meetings and created a few more advocates like us whom people, government and political parties trust.”

Article Topics

biometric passport  |  biometrics  |  digital ID  |  immigration  |  Nepal  |  Switzerland