Photo: Gopen Rai

Nepal and Israel have signed an agreement allowing Nepali women to work as caretakers in the Jewish state.

Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE)’s Director General Bharat Raj Subedi and Israeli ambassador to Nepal Yaron Mayer signed an agreement on Friday, revoking the ban on Nepali women caretakers in Israel.

Five years ago, Israel had banned Nepali women caretakers following reports of their exploitation at the hands of labour recruitment agencies. Recruitment agencies reportedly charged more than Rs 800,000 from Nepali women caretakers. Later, the government fixed a ceiling of Rs 70,000 prohibiting labour recruiters from charging Nepali women caretakers more than that. But labour recruiters rejected the ceiling and stopped sending Nepali domestic help to Israel.

The new agreement, however, has no room for labour recruitment agencies. “We have adopted a G2G (government to government) model to send Nepali women caretakers to Israel,” said Labour Minister Tek Bahadur Gurung. “It will minimise the risk of exploitation and abuse.”

As per the deal, Nepali women caretakers will not have to pay more than 65,000 to go to work in Israel. However, only 300 Nepali women caretakers will be allowed to work in Israel in the pilot phase.

Migrant rights activists have hailed the Nepal-Israel deal, saying it will not only create job opportunities for Nepali women abroad but also end their exploitations.

“Israel is one of the most sought-after destinations for Nepali women migrant workers,” said Bijaya Rai of Paurakhi Nepal, an NGO run by former women migrant workers. “And the G2G model will ensure their safe migration to Israel.”