Nepal to probe why 1,000 migrant workers die in Asia, Middle East each year

Nepalese workers abroad are losing their lives every year, in countries such as Malaysia and Qatar

A Supreme Court ruling is now pushing the government to investigate the deaths and create better protection measures for migrant workers

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A Nepalese worker carries uncooked bricks at a factory. File photo: EPA

Published: 2:00pm, 1 Feb 2020Updated: 2:16pm, 2 Feb 2020

In a ruling welcomed by activists, Nepal’s Supreme Court this month ordered the government to investigate cases of Nepalese workers who lose their lives abroad, amid efforts to crack down on the cause of unusually high death rates in destination countries.

Postmortems should be mandatory for migrant workers who die overseas, the judges said in a 27-page ruling delivered earlier in January.

Every year, about 1,000 Nepalese workers end up dying in the countries they work, despite being declared fit and healthy before leaving the country. Some 97 per cent of these cases are taking place in Malaysia and the Gulf nations, where autopsies are not often carried out and deaths are often attributed to cardiac arrest and “natural causes”.

According to investigative reports, countries such as Qatar – where infrastructure for the Fifa World Cup 2022 is being built – have failed to investigate the sudden deaths of migrant workers. Lawyers and advocates hope the Supreme Court’s decision will pressure Nepalese authorities to do more.

A view of the Khalifa International Stadium, the first completed venue that will host a part of the Fifa 2022 World Cup. Photo: dpa

“This judgment is relevant because it’s pushing the state to look at where the gaps are, and what the remedies should be,” said Archana Kotecha, head of the legal department at non-profit organisation Liberty Shared.