National Human Rights Commission of Nepal Nepali migrant workers The National Human Rights Commission of Nepal is mandated to ensure the respect, promotion and protection of human rights, including civil and political rights, and economic, social and cultural rights. Its mandate, specified in the Constitution of Nepal, is to respect, protect and promote human rights and ensure effective enforcement. Under its law, the Commission has the function to “undertake study and research into various aspects of protection, promotion, enhancement and implementation of human rights”. The Commission for many years has undertaken a program of work for the protection of the rights of Nepali migrant workers. Under that program it has •S  igned a Memorandum of Understanding with the Republic of Korea in 2010 for collaboration on the protection of the rights of Nepali migrant workers in the Republic of Korea •R  ecommended to the Government of Nepal in 2012 that it ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families 1990 •C  onvened an International Conference on Migration Rights in 2012, with participation of the NHRIs of the Asia Pacific region, non-government organisations, international development partner organisations and the specialised agencies of the United Nations, with the aim of promoting coordination on migrant workers’ rights •D  ispatched a high level team in September 2013 to monitor and observe the human rights situation of Nepali migrant workers in the Republic of Korea and Malaysia and reported to the Government of Nepal on the findings and recommendations arising from the visit •C  oncluded a ten-point Memorandum of Understanding with the National Human Rights Committee of Qatar on 16 November 2015 for collaboration on the protection of the rights of Nepali migrant workers in Qatar and an eleven-point bilateral implementation plan on 18 December 2016, under which both NHRIs nominated focal officers for the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding and the National Human Rights Committee of Qatar has established a ‘Community Help Desk for Nepali Community’ through which grievances are handled in the Nepali language •D  esignated two migration contact officers in its central office and one migration contact officer and one alternative contact officer in the Provincial and Branch offices and conducted a national consultation on migrant workers and two provincial level conferences •E  xchanged information with the NHRI of Malaysia on complaints and initiated preliminary dialogue for the establishment of the formal mechanism •M  onitored the Tribhuvan International Airport, the Department of Immigration and the Offices of the Department of Foreign Employment for migrant workers and human trafficking • Investigated complaints and reported to the Government of Nepal on necessary action arising from the complaints •R  eported on the issue of migrant workers, especially on the recruitment process and access to justice, including a report to the Government of Nepal on 13 July 2016 with 33 recommendations related to safe migration and prevention and control of human trafficking •R  eported and made recommendations in 2020 on the rights of migrant workers in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.29 29. National Human Rights Commission of Nepal Migrant workers rights and NHRC Nepal’s initiatives 2075 (2019) at https://www.nhrcnepal.org/pages/pages/search_new.. National action on international issues 25