A/HRC/38/41/Add.1 trafficking and forced labour. The Government should also ensure that remittances can be transferred through financial institutions. VII. Irregular migration 86. Despite legislation that prohibits the departure of migrant workers for foreign employment via another country, the Special Rapporteur collected testimonies about large number of Nepalese migrant workers, particularly women, departing via India in order to evade government regulations and the lengthy and expensive recruitment process. They may become victims of unscrupulous agents and recruitment agencies and may find themselves in situations where they are forced to leave on forged or fake documents, or without the necessary papers. 87. Others, who leave on a labour permit, may become irregular if they overstay their visa, travel on a different visa and engage in work in the destination country, are not picked up by the company at the airport, are trafficked to another country than the one for which their labour permit and visa have been issued, or have run away from abusive and exploitative employers. Some renew their contracts in the destination country, which means they lack a valid labour permit from the Nepalese authorities. That irregularity makes them even more vulnerable to abusive treatment. Because of their status, the Nepalese authorities provide only limited support to them. 88. The Government of Nepal must protect and assist irregular Nepalese migrant workers in destination countries and facilitate their return to Nepal, regardless of their migratory status. The focus should be on monitoring recruitment agencies and punishment should be directed at them, rather than at migrants for their irregular status. 89. The Special Rapporteur was informed that irregular migrants find it difficult to access provisions in the Foreign Employment Welfare Fund, which can facilitate the return of injured or sick migrants or compensate their families in case of death. Migrants who have overstayed their visa receive only Nrs 10,000 (about $96), instead of the Nrs 700,000 (about $6,700), which is available to migrants in a regular situation. The renewal of labour permits should thus be facilitated at Nepalese embassies. 90. According to information from the Foreign Employment Promotion Board, the fund has accumulated Nrs 4 billion (about $38 million). The Special Rapporteur notes that of that amount, only Nrs 1 billion (about $9.5 million) is spent annually. He encourages the authorities to ensure that the fund can contribute to compensation for irregular migrants who have sustained injuries or an illness that has resulted in disability and/or loss of a job or death, or who need repatriating for some other reason. VIII. Cross-cutting concerns A. Migration to Nepal 91. While the main focus of his visit was labour migration from Nepal, the Special Rapporteur also looked into issues concerning migration to Nepal and notes that Nepal has historically hosted a large number of refugees, mainly from the Tibetan Autonomous Region in China and from Bhutan. The Special Rapporteur regrets that the 2015 Constitution and the Civil Act (2012) guarantee certain rights, including protection against discrimination, freedom of speech, the right of peaceful assembly, freedom of association and freedom to form and join a trade union, freedom to move and reside in any part of Nepal, and the freedom to practice any profession, only to citizens, in violation of guarantees under key international human rights law. The Special Rapporteur wishes to remind the Government of Nepal that according to international standards and that, with the exception of the right to vote and be elected and the right to enter and stay, migrants, regardless of their status, benefit from the entire human rights framework. 15