Many workers from Nepal are hired to work on the construction of stadiums and railways that are being designed for the 2022 FIFA World Cup to be held in Qatar.
[5] In October 2019, the Emir of Qatar approved two amendments in support of migrant labor After giving one month's written notice, employees are now free to leave their jobs under the new legislation.
A growing number of employers in Qatar are showing more interest hiring engineers, accountants, hotel and travel professionals from Nepal.
Tek Bahadur Gurung, Nepal's labour minister, said: "After the earthquake of 25 April, we requested all companies in Qatar to give their Nepalese workers special leave and pay for their air fare home.
While workers in some sectors of the economy have been given this, those on World Cup construction sites are not being allowed to leave because of the pressure to complete projects on time."
The labor minister said that conditions for Nepalese workers in Qatar would not change unless FIFA and their sponsors put pressure on the small gulf state.
This number accounts for nearly 20% of the country's gross domestic product, and is money that would ultimately play an important role in rebuilding Nepal after the two earthquakes.
The government of Nepal even offered to pay for the workers' flights home to attend funeral services but the Qatari companies would not allow them bereavement leave.
In 2016, Narayan Kaji Shrestha, head of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal, went to Qatar and asked the Qatari government to assist in a plan to minimize processing fees for laborers by monitoring the companies that hire Nepali workers and by helping to implement a "free ticket, free visa" system.
[17] In 2018, Qatari authorities opened recruitment centres in eight countries to address "contract substitution" and establish a clear framework that worked in favor of the migrants workers.