The Nepal Embassy in Abu Dhabi on Thursday said it had not received any official communication from the government on a proposed ban on Nepalese women under 30 travelling to Gulf countries to work as domestic help.

This followed a report in a Nepalese newspaper quoting Information Minister Raj Kishor Yadav, who alleged that the Nepalese women were sexually exploited in the Gulf.

“Young female workers are reported to have been sexually and psychologically exploited in Gulf countries. So the cabinet decided to set the age bar for women migrant workers in the Gulf. Women above 30 years of age are at low risk of such exploitation,” Yadav was quoted as saying in the English daily, Himalayan Times, according to AFP.

First Secretary at the Embassy L. B. Chetri, said the embassy was not aware of such a ban being imposed. ‘‘We know there has been a proposal to ban women under 30 from travelling to the Gulf to work as maids, but we have not been informed yet,’’ he said. The official said the embassy is likely to be informed of the decision by Sunday.

Thousands of women, mostly under the age group of 25, leave the impoverished Himalayan nation bordering India every year for menial jobs in cleaning or construction in Gulf Arab states.

Nepalese women have been allowed to go to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar since 2010, when authorities lifted a 12-year ban imposed after the suicide of a Nepalese domestic worker who had been abused in Kuwait.

Most Nepalese migrant workers are in India but the government and local charities estimate that between 20,000 and 70,000 are in wealthy Gulf countries, lured by the promise of better wages to help support their families back home.

Maiti Nepal, a non-profit organisation in Nepal that works to prevent the trafficking of Nepalese women abroad, welcomed the announcement, saying many underage girls travelled to the Gulf for work and their abuse was common.

There was an outcry in Sri Lanka in September 2010 when a maid returned from Saudi Arabia alleging that her employers had forced 24 nails and needles into her body. The labour ministry was not immediately available for comment. (With AFP inputs)