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GAMCA closes facilities in Nepal

On January 3, 2012

The closure of GCC Approved Medical Centres Association (GAMCA) facilities in Nepal is preventing workers from obtaining visas for employment in the Gulf. Last week, GAMCA shut down all 12 medical centers in Nepal after attacks on its Kathmandu office. According to the Chairman of GAMCA Nepal, 25 people led by the Nepal Health Professionals´ Federation (NHPF) destroyed the office and caused over 700,0000 Rs worth of damage. The NHPF has protested against GAMCA’s monopolization of medical tests for Gulf-bound migrants in the past. The GAMCA association has stated that offices will open when the vandals have been punished.

Until then, prospective Nepalese migrants are left at a standstill. Kumud Khanal, general secretary of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA) stated that many Nepalese travel to Kathmandthu daily in the hopes that the center has opened. While Nepalese workers would benefit from a change in GAMCA policies, the attacks and the closure of the centers do little to further their interests. Migrant-hopefuls risk much more than either GAMCA or NHPF while the centers remain closed.