Скачать или смотреть Women need permission to Travel Abroad: Nepal

Nepal has proposed a new rule to take permission from your parents and her local government ward office, among other requirements, before she can travel abroad alone. The proposals have been sent to the home ministry for approval and could come into force soon. If you are under the age of 40 years and you are traveling alone for the first time, then this rule will be applicable to go to Gulf or African countries. The Nepal Government says that it is for protecting women from human trafficking. They will have a record of women going to such countries and keep a track on them.

Speaking to Kathmandu Post, Tek Narayan Paudel, Spokesperson with Department of Immigration, said: “Women under 40 are at a higher risk of trafficking and other abuses. Therefore, the new rule is proposed for their protection. Family of the visiting girl/woman and the local ward office will give a recommendation that she can travel abroad.” But this new regulation has received alot of backslash from around the world.

Human Rights Watch South Asia Director Meenakshi Ganguly wrote that "thoughtless regulations are harmful." “The abuse of migrant workers, including women, is a serious problem, but these policies only make it worse. Instead of denying a woman her right to leave her country, the Nepali government should better regulate recruitment agencies, work with destination country governments to put protections in place, and respond effectively to provide protection services when abuses occur.”

International Planned Parenthood Federation Board Member Surakshya Giri said that the rule penalises women and overlooks flaws in laws. “This rule penalises women and overlooks the flaws in laws and recruitment systems which make women and girls vulnerable to trafficking and other forms of violence. Women are contributors to the economy of the country, and they must be treated as equal citizens.

Human rights activists have for years highlighted exploitation of migrant workers and made valuable recommendations. These restrictions are against Nepal’s commitments under the convention on elimination of all forms of discrimination against women." Mohna Ansari, a human rights lawyer, said the rules would violate “constitutional provisions that guarantee equal and fair treatment of all citizens and call for ending gender-based discrimination.”

Gurung, 24, who is a freelance art director for short movies, is concerned, as the Nepal government is proposing this new rule on traveling abroad on a visit visa. “I was so frustrated to learn about this new rule through the media,” Gurung told the Post. “For about a decade now my grandparents have been living in the United Kingdom and my parents in the United States. I have been travelling there and other parts of the world on my own.”

Anurag Devkota, a human rights lawyer, called the proposed rule “a blatant attack” who closely follows the welfare of migrants, told the Kathmandu Post, “Regressive moves of this sort send across a negative message to the national and international community,” Article 15 (4) of the CEDAW states that countries shall accord to men and women the same rights with regard to the law relating to the movement of persons and the freedom to choose their residence and domicile. “Nepal being party to the Convention and by virtue of the Treaty Act of Nepal, this move is beyond the ambit of law, out and out unconstitutional and legally wrong,” said Devkota.

However, the government has responded to criticism, stating that it will be “easier to track women.” “The new rule is also for keeping a record so that whenever women face any problem, it will be easier for the government to trace them,” said Paudel, adding that “there have been incidents of Nepali citizens going on visit visas with the plan of working later and then getting stranded,” according to Kathmandu Post. Protesters, mostly social activists, writers and journalists, and a large number of women, are out on the streets in Nepal against this proposed law.

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