Amid growing concerns about workers’ safety in foreign destinations, a foreign employment expert has underlined the need for making post-mortem mandatory for every Nepali migrant worker who dies abroad, along with strict implementation of pre-departure orientation for workers.

“The government has to sign labour agreements with destination countries and it must include a clause of compulsory post-mortem from an authorised government hospital of the respective country,” opined foreign employment expert Ganesh Gurung.

His views come at a time when the data maintained by Foreign Employment Promotion Board shows a total of 622 Nepali migrant workers lost their lives in the first eight months of the current fiscal in different countries.

The number of workers who died during the review period is up by eight per cent, compared to 576 deaths in the same period of the last fiscal year.

While migrant labourers have to undergo medical examinations both in the host and the destination countries, the increase in number of workers dying abroad suggests something is amiss in the current system. According to Gurung, post-mortem reports could give the real cause of death, which would enable the government to make necessary changes in orientation training and medical tests of workers.

So far, post-mortem of deceased workers is not mandatory and airline companies bring their bodies on the basis of medical report issued by any medical institution, according to Gurung. If the new provision is enforced it would also help the families of the deceased to seek appropriate compensation from employers.

FEPB data show that in the first eight months of this fiscal 96 Nepali migrants died in Qatar, which absorbs a large number of Nepalis for employment, second only to Malaysia. Nepali Embassy in Doha, stated that post-mortem was conducted based on the request of families of deceased workers.

“Many families have received compensation from Qatari employers,” said Ganesh Dhakal, charge d’affaires of the embassy. “However, if the death is because of the worker’s own mistake, employers do not provide compensation.”

Qatar law guarantees 200,000 riyals ($53,315) in compensation, if a worker dies on duty. On the other hand, if a worker dies during duty hours in Malaysia, migrant worker’s family gets 25,000 ringgit ($6,789.425). Since compensation amount is huge in Qatar, there have been cases, where hospitals were found to prepare death reports on the request of employers so that the latter would not have to pay compensation.

Most number of Nepalis (274) working abroad died in Malaysia during the first eight months of this fiscal. The number of deaths increased by a whopping 36 per cent compared to the corresponding period in the last fiscal.

Kumud Khanal, former second vice-president of the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies, said the government had to lobby with labour absorbing countries to agree on a provision that would cover insurance of workers for 24 hours a day, not just while they were on duty.

Published on: 28 March 2015 | The Himalayan Times