12 March, 2015
Panelists called on the government to protect the rights of migrant workers during a discussion held at the opening ceremony of the 9th National Youth Mela organised by Amnesty International Nepal in Pokhara.
Speakers included human rights activist Krishna Pahadi and CA members Gagan Thapa (Nepali Congress Party) and Rabindra Adhikari (Communist Party of Unified Marxist Leninist). All of them underscored the role of the government to strengthen state machineries towards protecting rights of migrant workers.
Tikaram Pokhrel, Western Regional Director of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in Kaski, spoke about the commission’s initiatives to help migrant workers. He said that the NHRC has worked with the National Human Rights commission of South Korea and also has been putting pressure on the government to ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.
Clara Fok, Youth and Activism Coordinator at Amnesty International, stressed on the importance of youth engagement in decision making process.
Human Rights Activist Renuka Paudel expressed her concern on the increasing trend of youth migrating to foreign countries as it could pose a huge problem in the long run and said the government needs to work towards creating opportunities in the country.
There was participation of around 100 youth activists from across the country at the Youth Mela. The programme was facilitated by AI Nepal’s Former Chairperson Krishna Kandel and Chaired by AI Nepal’s Chairperson Surya Bahadur Adhikari.