Seventeen youths, including Thapa, who had left for Malaysia to earn a cozy life for their family and future security, have been marooned there for the past one month and a half. [break]
“We don´t have our passports with us. Police can arrest us anytime,” Thapa said in a telephone conversation with myrepublica.com. “We want to return home. But who will help us?”
Along with Thapa, seven youths from Bhimapokhara VDC, four from Damak, three from Rayadanda, one from Resh, and one from Rangkhani are stranded.
Among them are Purna Bahadur Bishwakarma of Bhimpokhara-4, Om Bahadur Thapa and Mahendra Chhetri of Bhimpokhara-6, Lal Bahadur Sunar, Raj Kumar Bishwakarma, Bijaya Bishwakarma and Amar Bahadur Thapa of Bhimpokhara-7, Lok Bahadur Pun, Tikaram Pandey, Netra Satyal and Prem Pun of Damak-9, and Thagendra Thapa, Panbir Thapa and Yuvaraj Thapa of Rayadanda-9. The other two youths have not been identified.
The 17 reached Malaysia under the intiative of Gopal Bahadur Chhantyal, an agent residing in Damak-9. Chhantyal sent the 17 to Malaysia with the help of one Ram Bahadur Sarki of Mallaj, Parbat, who works in Malaysia.
The seventeen were aided by Sita Aryal, operator of Sunrise Guest House located at Gongabu, Kathmandu, for getting a permit from the Department of Labor and to get flight tickets.
Relatives of the youths have handed over Chhantyal to District Police Office, Baglung. Chhantyal had taken Rs 100,000 from each of the youths.
“We arrived in Malaysia after being offered a job of 1,200 ringgits by a reputed company here,” said Panbir Thapa of Rayadanda-9. “For the first 15 days after arriving here, we worked for another company for a monthly salary of 450 ringgits. We exerted pressure on the company through our agent (Ram Bahadur Sarki) to raise our salary. But the company fired us, and we are marooned,” he said. “The agent is no longer in our contact.”
Family members of the 17 have filed a complaint at the District Police Office demanding action against the agent.
“My brother should be brought back safely,” said Raju Thapa, elder brother of Panbir. “The agent must compensate us. My brother had paid expenses to reach there by taking loan.”
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