Roshan Sedhai

Records maintained by Nepali missions in the Middle East and Malaysia have revealed serious flaws in certificates issued by health centres to Nepali migrant workers.

Approximately, a third of the total 6,900 migrant deaths have been attributed to medical defects despite clean bills of health from medical centres and the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE).

Around 2,300 deaths that occurred in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait have been clearly attributed to defects related to respiratory problems, stress, lung damage, chest infections, tuberculosis, gastritis, renal failure, ischemic heart diseases, sepsis and mental trauma.

Official data sent by various embassies to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) show that over 3,200 Nepalis in Saudi Arabia and 1,850 in Malaysia have died since the establishment of the missions there. Similarly, around 1,300 died in Qatar, 500 in UAE and 50 in Kuwait so far.

Though the embassies do not properly categorise the nature of deaths, the data show that more than one-third died from chronic diseases, mental trauma, work stress and exhaustion. Ironically, those with chronic diseases and other health problems held ‘’medically fit” certificates. According to embassy officials, many untimely deaths attributed to ‘natural causes’ could also have occurred due to medical defects.

“Deaths mentioned as natural probably occurred due to unidentified diseases as there is no possibility of finding out the truth. If we attribute such deaths to medical defects, it will amount to over half the total deaths,” said a Nepali embassy official in Qatar. The official said over 40 percent of the deaths were related to cardiac problems.

Nepali Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Udaya Raj Pandey also said that a significant number of deaths had occurred due to medical problems. Apart from health conditions, the consumption of poisonous alcohol has also been a major cause of death in recent months. The Nepali embassy in Malaysia also reported over 400 deaths due to medical problems.The remaining portion of the total deaths have been attributed to natural causes, workplace and road accidents, suicides and murders.

Although officials at the DoFE, who are supposed to inspect anomalies in the health certificates, admit to the widespread misuse of the documents and their haphazard issuance, no official measures have been taken to control it. Like orientation certificates and training certificates, health certificates too can be purchased from clinics and medical centres, said the officials.  

While scrutinising samples of health certificates submitted by workers, around 310 were found to be forged.Director of Foreign Employment Lal Babu Kawari also admitted to the rampant misuse of fake certificates among potential migrant workers. He said the issue also raised concerns over the validity of the health institutions issuing the certificates.

“The easy availability of health certificates has kept workers in the dark about their health conditions. There are also questions over the reliability of health check-ups,” said Kawari. Such malpractices will not come under control unless all stakeholders worked for it, he added.

Chairman of the Nepal Health Entrepreneur’s Association Prabin Tiwari said even medical centres cannot guarantee the lives and well-being of the migrants as the workers only submit to a limited number of tests.

“We have urged the government to conduct an extensive research on the main cause of the deaths, depending on the record of particular countries. By dissecting the country-wise cause of death, we will be able to increase the number of tests to preemptively discover the disease,” said Tiwari.However, he told the Post that there is no deficiency in the check-ups that Nepali health institutions provide.

Published on: 4 August 2012 | The Kathmandu Post