December 18, 2023 – On the occasion of today’s International Migrants Day, the president of the Nepali Association in the Republic of Croatia, Simon Lama, spoke to N1 about the lives of Nepalese workers in Croatia.
As Poslovni writes, Simon Lama works in the human resources management sector. Previously, he did similar work in Nepal, and besides Croatia, he also lived in Singapore and Georgia.
He said the following about the Nepali community in Croatia: “In Croatia, we have just founded our association called the Non-Resident Nepali Association. It is an association that operates in more than 88 countries around the world, and since we founded a branch in Croatia, many Nepalese people have come here to work. There are currently almost 20,000 Nepalese workers in Croatia.”
“They live in different parts of Croatia and do different jobs, and we decided to found the association because we don’t have an embassy. So, when our compatriots have a problem or need to legalize their documents, we play the role of a mediator with the Nepalese embassy in Vienna and solve these problems so that they are not deported to Nepal,” he added.
Croatia After the World Cup?
“When Croatia played in the final of the World Cup in 2018, everyone heard about Croatia and decided to come here and look for a job,” said Lama.
He adds that Nepalese citizens living in Croatia are satisfied with their jobs, and he believes that some of them will bring their families and settle in the country for the long term.
According to Lama, they mostly save their money and send it to their families in Nepal.
“people are Satisfied”
“When people move to another country, it takes some time for them to learn the language, but if they know at least the basics of English, they can communicate with others. Some of my Nepalese friends also speak Croatian very well,” Lama said.
He also spoke about employers, salaries, and working conditions: “Big companies offer good wages, pay salaries on time and people are satisfied, but I assume that a few companies pay the minimum wage. There are some smaller companies in the middle, and some construction companies. People are also ready to work hard, but some construction companies do not provide them with protective equipment, so there are problems of that type.”
Lama plans to stay in Croatia for some time, help people in the field of social work and establish his own company, but still, the ultimate goal is to return to Nepal.
