KATHMANDU: Thousands of Nepalese workers in Iraq will be able to keep their jobs after the government lifted a ban on travel to the war-torn country, the employment ministry said on Thursday.
The workers risked being sent home after the US government directed all companies it employs in Iraq to dismiss anyone working there illegally.
"The government has taken this decision to protect the interests of thousands of Nepalese migrant workers in Iraq," ministry spokesman Purna Bhattarai told AFP.
Nepal banned its nationals from working in Iraq after 12 Nepalese contractors were kidnapped and executed by an Islamic insurgent group in 2004.
But the government estimates that up to 30,000 may be working there illegally, mostly as security staff, attracted by the comparatively high pay on offer.
Thousands of Nepalese leave the desperately poor country every month to seek employment abroad, mostly in Gulf countries and Malaysia.
Last year, remittances from overseas workers accounted for 21 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
