Some 461 Nepalese, working in various foreign destinations, have been reported dead in the last six months of the current fiscal year, a statistics shows. According to Foreign Employment Promotion Board, Malaysia saw the highest number of deaths of Nepalese workers, standing at 207. 

Similarly, some 128 Nepalese workers have been reported dead in Saudi Arabia and 69 in Qatar. 

Likewise, 27 Nepalese workers died in Dubai, 15 in Kuwait, six in Bahrain and three in South Korea. Japan, Oman and Russia saw the death of one Nepali worker each. 

Among the dead, 458 are male and three female. The data shows that some 77 people died owing to various reasons. Among the dead, 119 people have died natural deaths while 151 succumbed to health hazards and strokes as cardiac arrest. 

The death toll also includes those who committed suicide. Fifty-four Nepalese have been reported taken their lives while 52 have been found to have died on-the-spot in course of work. It is said road accidents have claimed the lives of 46 Nepalese. 

The government, however, has not been able to keep tab of the death toll of the Nepalese working in India and working illegally in other countries as it has no exact data and details of such migrant workers. 

The statistics is based on the information details shared by the foreign employment agencies. 

Raghuraj Kafle, Executive Director of the Board, opined that the statistics provided by the employment agencies could be fudged by the employment agencies to avoid the legal hassle that comes along with the death case. 

Yearly some 500,000 youths have been flying abroad recorded for employment. 

While there has been an increment in the number of Nepalese flocking abroad in the recent years, so has the number of the death toll. 

The Board, as a support, provides Rs 300,000 to the families of the workers who die in the foreign land during the work whereas it offers scholarship to one child of the deceased. 

Published on: 20 January 2015 | Republica