Scores of dead bodies of Nepali migrant workers await repatriation from labour destinations. Government officials estimate there are around 60 bodies of Nepali migrants lying in hospital morgues overseas. At least 25 bodies of Nepali migrants are in Saudi Arabia alone. Bodies of many Nepali migrants are also languishing in mortuaries in Qatar, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.

The problem in repatriation of bodies is particularly high in Saudi Arabia followed by Malaysia and Qatar, Nepal’s top three labour destinations both in terms of volume of workers and their death.

With increasing death of Nepali migrants in labour destinations, lengthy repatriation process of dead bodies has become a major problem for stakeholders. Family members usually have to wait at least a month to receive the bodies; many are compelled to wait up to two years.

Officials of Nepali missions in various labour destinations concur that the repatriation has been delayed owing largely to the lack of cooperation from the employment sponsors of the Nepali migrants.  

Take Lal Bahadur Basnet’s case for instance. A Nepali migrant from Rasuwa, Basnet died in Saudi Arabia of what officials there ruled as “natural cause” on March 3, 2013. More than a year after his death, Basnet’s family has not yet received his body.

If the deceased migrant happened to be working in labour destination illegally then the repatriation process could draw out for years.

“It’s very difficult to even trace the deceased if he had arrived through illegal means,” says Udaya Raj Pandey, Nepali ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

Sancha Bahadur Waiba of Rasuwa, who had been working in Saudi Arabia illegally, had died on 24 January, 2013. The embassy has still not succeeded in sending Waiba’s body back home. The embassy officials said it will still take a few months more as they are in the process preparing the travel pass to fly back Waiba’s body to Nepal.

It’s especially challenging to bring back the dead bodies from the Gulf countries as their laws seek mandatory permission of the employer for a migrant to leave the country under the Kafala System. Kafala, a system defined by rights group as neo-slavery, ties lives of migrant workers to their local sponsor throughout their work tenure by restricting mobility. The employees require a no-objection certificate from their sponsor in order to resign or leave the country.

Officials at the Foreign Employment Promotion Board (FEPB) and the Consular Section at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, however, point out that the blame cannot be put on the uncooperative sponsors of Nepali migrants, their employers and the laws of labour destinations alone. They say the Nepali missions should also put in extra effort to make sure the bodies of deceased migrants are sent back to the country in time.  

Malaysia has comparatively more liberal laws compared to other labour destinations, but still the repatriation process of dead migrants there is prolonged as anywhere else. The Malaysian embassy officials say they have not been able to do much about the problem owing to lack of staff.

The problem is so serious that when Govinda Bista from Morang died recently, his friends there performed his funeral, knowing that the body would remain in some hospital morgue for months before being repatriated home.

Every week, the FEPB and the Consular Section at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs receive several requests for repatriation of dead bodies. An official at the FEPB says they have been providing the money for repatriation whenever required, but it is up to the concerned embassies to send the bodies home. “The effort from the embassies  could address the problem to  some extent.”  

Published on: 19 April 2014 | The Kathmandu Post