A/HRC/38/41/Add.1 located in the districts and around 700 licensed local sub-agents operating at the district level, which is insufficient to meet demand at the local level. 9 32. In the absence of a decentralized recruitment system, unlicensed sub-agents get involved in assisting migrants in job placements and the relevant processes, including obtaining visas, the necessary administrative approvals, medical clearances and insurance. The Special Rapporteur heard accounts of potential migrant workers dealing with seven different licensed and informal agents throughout the recruitment process, leading to repeated payment of high fees for unclear purposes. 33. He urges the Government to develop legislation regulating the relationship between recruitment agencies and their agents, their sub-agents or other forms of subcontractors, to establish clear responsibilities and liability in the recruitment chain. Further, he invites the Government to facilitate the opening of additional branch agencies at the district level, to increase the accessibility to licensed recruitment agencies for potential migrant workers. 34. In terms of monitoring, he observes with concern that the same Department that registers and licenses private institutions is tasked with monitoring those institutions. He encourages the Nepalese authorities, as a matter of priority, to establish an independent monitoring mechanism, equipped with the necessary resources to effectively identify abuse and exploitation, including through a system based on complaints from trade unions, the National Human Rights Commission and civil society organizations. That mechanism also needs to ensure better monitoring of labour recruitment chains at district level. 35. He further encourages the Government to ensure that recruiters are effectively licensed. Abuse and exploitation by recruiters need to be investigated and their licences withdrawn if there are violations of legislation. Recruitment agencies should also be monitored in regard to handing out receipts for all payments made by migrants. Inspections of recruitment agencies should take place on a regular basis in that regard. C. Recruitment fees 36. The Special Rapporteur recognizes that recruiters facilitate regular opportunities, whereby migrants arrive in countries with a legitimate visa. However, he notes that the sector is in practice very poorly regulated. He heard of accounts from migrants of sometimes paying up to Nrs 180,000 (approximatively $1,750) in recruitment fees. 37. In 2015, the Government introduced a model whereby ticket and visa costs are born by the employer and which limits the legally permitted service fee charges to Nrs 10,000 (equivalent to $96) for placement in the seven major destination countries. 38. During his mission, the Special Rapporteur observed that this policy is poorly enforced and no effective monitoring mechanism to address non-compliance is in place. He wishes to draw particular attention to the fact that the policy does not completely eliminate recruitment fees and still allows for some fees to be charged to potential migrant workers for pre-departure services. Legislation to limit the fees improperly legitimizes the concept of charging migrants for their recruitment and creates unnecessary confusion. Recruitment fees are a business-to-business charge and should be banned completely. 39. He observed that potential migrant workers often cannot pay the costs related to their recruitment, as these have to be settled up front. If bank loans are refused, potential migrants may have to sell their land, pawn their jewellery, borrow from friends or relatives, or turn to informal money lenders who charge them high interest rates, sometimes up to 35 per cent. The Special Rapporteur was also informed of situations where agents deducted debt payments directly from the salaries of migrant workers, which ultimately left them with little or no savings when they returned to Nepal. 40. Mandatory pre-departure medical examinations, insurance and the cost of travel to Kathmandu to attend pre-departure training may add to already high recruitment fees. 9 8 Ibid.