Kathmandu, April 8 -- Nearly 500 Nepali migrant workers in Romania have been forced to either stay at home without pay or take pay cuts as the Covid-19 pandemic wreaks havoc in Europe.

Businesses that employ Nepali workers in the southeastern European country, which has been in lockdown since March 25, were initially planning to cancel the permits of foreign employees for sometime, but later agreed to send them on unpaid leave, said a representative from Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies, an organisation of 760 recruiting agencies.

"We were informed about the discussion [among businesses] that was happening," said Sujit Shrestha, general secretary of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies. "The Honorary Consul o...