Saturday, January 26, 2013

Malaysia records most migrants death (The Himalayan Times)

"...Malaysia has emerged as a new death bed for Nepali migrant workers leaving Saudi Arabia far behind..." this is embarrassing, and Malaysian government need to respond.. 

 Malaysia records most migrants death

Added At:  2013-01-21 10:26 PM

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE
KATHMANDU: Malaysia has emerged as a new death bed for Nepali migrant workers leaving Saudi Arabia far behind.

About 113 Nepali migrant workers lost their lives in the destination in the last six months, according to Foreign Employment Promotion Board.

Last year Saudi Arabia claimed 85 lives followed by Qatar (73), the United Arab Emirates (22) and Kuwait (seven). About eight Nepali migrant workers died in the South Korea — the most lucrative job destination among the preferred foreign job markets in recent days.

About 324 Nepalis have lost their lives in current fiscal year but Malaysia topped the list with most deaths, said acting executive director at the board Girija Sharma.

“But the data is of the recorded legal migrant workers, who have applied for compensation,” she said, adding that there is no record of death of illegal migrant workers.

The board provides Rs 150,000 compensation to family of deceased migrant workers.

However, migration experts believe that annual death at the foreign land is double than the recorded data.

“We do not have mechanism to keep accounts of dead bodies entering country from Tribhuvan International Airport, which is a shame,” said migration expert Dr Ganesh Gurung.

About 3.5 million Nepalis are believed to be working in foreign lands but only 2.5 million are legal. Of the one million undocumented migrant workers, nearly 200,000 are women migrant workers mainly based in Gulf countries.

According to the board, about 108 Nepali migrant workers have died in accidents. Death of about 64 Nepalis remained undiscovered as they died while sleeping. Such deaths were widely known as ‘silent killer’ among Nepalis working in the Gulf countries.

Likewise, some 47 Nepalis dies naturally and some 35 committed suicide. About 51 migrant workers died in road accidents, whereas work related hazardous claimed six lives since mid-July 2012.

The board’s record revealed that Nepalis death in the foreign land has significantly increased in the last three years. According to the board, about 466 Nepalis died in foreign lands in the fiscal year 2010-11 and some 643 in a year back.- The Himalayan Times, 21/1/2013, Malaysia records most migrants death

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