A migrant worker's journey ends with a coffin and soulstirring mourning

By Sugam Pokharel, CNN

Updated 2006 GMT (0406 HKT) March 9, 2015

London, United Kingdom

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Plight of Nepali migrant workers in Qatar 03:35

Story highlights
NEW: A spokesman for the Qatari labor
ministry details recent changes to the law
Each week, the bodies of dozens of migrant
workers are repatriated to Nepal
The body of one man, Kishun Das, is returned
home as his family mourns

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Dhanusha, Nepal (CNN)At Kathmandu's

Tribhuvan International Airport, hundreds of
migrant workers line up daily at the immigration
counters, clutching newly printed passports and
boarding passes. Many of them, though, are
clueless as to where they're headed.
As a frequent traveler to the country, I've been
approached many times by these men, asking
me to help fill out their departure forms.
Usually, when I ask what country they're
traveling to, I get the same answer: "I'm not

sure."

They seem weary and lost but still hopeful that they can make their lives better.
This time, however, I'm at the airport to follow up on the repatriation of the most unfortunate
of these migrant workers -- far too many of them make the return journey in caskets.
Almost every day, the remains of three or four workers arrive back in Nepal from the Middle
East, according to Bhola Prasad Siwakoti, the secretary of the Nepalese Ministry of Labor and
Manpower. Every other day, at least one dead body arrives from Qatar, he said.

Worst exploitation
"Nepali migrant workers have the lowest per
capita income in Qatar," says Suryanath Mishra,
who served as ambassador to Qatar from 2007
to 2012. "They get exploited the most out of all
the migrant workers."
He cites lack of education and technical skills as
the main causes.

Nepalese migrant worker's body is

returned from Qatar 7 photos
EXPAND GALLERY

We are waiting for the body of Kishun Das, who

left Nepal for Qatar only eight months ago. The
38-year old was his family's breadwinner and the
father of five children.

His younger brother, Bishun, is at the airport to

receive the body. He also works in Qatar and is in Nepal on leave. I ask him why he's alone.
"We don't have money to bring other family members to receive the body," he says. "But they
have been calling me every other minute asking for the update."
His phone rings.
"I'm at the administration filling out the paperwork." he tells the caller on his phone.
"No, he isn't getting any compensation."
With more than 350,000 migrant workers, Nepalis make up the second-biggest community in
Qatar, after Indians, the embassy in Qatar claims.

Qatar's response

When contacted about the deaths of foreign

workers in Qatar, a spokesman for the labor
ministry said that all workers deserve to be
protected against exploitation.
Saad Al-Mraikhi estimated that some 400 Indian

Qatar accused of exploiting workers

04:00

and Nepalese workers die each year in Qatar.

"It is desperately unfortunate that any worker

PLAY VIDEO should die overseas, in a foreign land, away from
their family," the spokesman said. "But it would
be wrong, we believe, to allow the statistics to be
consistently distorted to suggest that all deaths in a population of 1.5 million people are
apparently the result of workplace conditions, either directly or indirectly, which is the
prevailing and erroneous narrative."
Al-Mraikhi spoke about recent changes in his country, including the introduction of a wage
protection system, improved living conditions and increased penalties for companies that
violate rules.
"While the vast majority of workers in Qatar are fairly treated, we recognise that a minority are
not. That is why we are reforming labour laws and practices," he said in a statement.

Migration soars thanks to Qatar World Cup

As we wait at the airport, a Qatar Airways plane lands. At 7:40 pm, it is the last of three that
depart and arrive every day. Before Qatar won the right to stage the FIFA World Cup in 2022
and embarked on a hugely ambitious, holistic construction plan to support it, it was a single
flight a day.
Hundreds of passengers disembark from the plane. "They are mostly migrant workers
returning home," an airport official tells us.
We spot a cargo worker transporting a bright red box carrying the body of Kishun. Even in a
country where even a fight between two stray dogs can gather a sizable crowd, coffin arrivals
don't seem to attract many spectators. The scene has become all too common.
The coffin is loaded on to a jeep provided for free by the Nepali government. We follow it on
the journey to the family's village in Dhanusha district, a seven-hour drive from Kathmandu.
"Normally, vehicles are not allowed to drive on
this highway after 8 p.m. because of the
dangerous condition of some of the roads at
night, but since I'm carrying a coffin, the police
let me go," the driver of the jeep tells us.

The Nepali government has eight vehicles

designated to deliver coffins. They're kept busy.

Are Qatar 2022 migrant workers

abused? 02:12
PLAY VIDEO

"They call me the coffin guy," the driver says with

a dark smirk.

In mourning

At around 1 a.m., we stop at a roadside shack.

All of us eat except for Das' brother. "I'm mourning. For religious purposes, I need to remain
pure. So, I can't eat anything," he says.
I see him buying alcohol shortly after.
"I'm too stressed because of my brother's death. I need to comfort myself."
Back in Qatar, where alcohol is banned, he and his friends manage to fulfill their needs
courtesy of the local black market, he tells us.
"It (the alcohol) is of very poor quality, but that is our only option," he adds.
Even before we arrive at the village just at the
break of dawn, we hear the howling. Dozens of
villagers have already gathered at Das' home.
His father cries out in agony, "Hey Lord, what
have you done?"

Then he faints.
All the family members shout at the coffin. The
wailing and shouting is almost deafening. And it
goes on for hours.

Qatar 'slave state' for World Cup

workers 01:11
PLAY VIDEO

As a journalist working in South Asia, I have seen

a lot of desperation and misery. But the
screeching was so intense; it's something I will never forget.

Sole breadwinner
"He alone was taking care of his parents and his family. How will they survive now?" a villager
asks.
Most of the spectators are women. Most of the men from the village have gone to the Middle
East to work. The few who are left behind start preparing for his cremation.
Mishra, the former ambassador, says 55% of Nepali migrant workers deaths in Qatar are from
"sudden" cardiac arrest, 20% die from work-related accidents, 15% from traffic accidents
and an alarming 10% commit suicide.
Nepali government records show more than 290 workers have died in the Gulf state in the
past 420 days.
Put another way, two Nepali workers die in Qatar every three days. These are young men
dying in the prime of their life.
"The cause of deaths needs to be investigated properly, and urgently," Mishra says. "In

general, it is due to tension led by exploitation, adverse climate, poor working and living
conditions and alcoholic intoxication."
In Das' village, almost all the men we meet have spent time working in the Middle East. Many
had recently returned from Qatar. They tell stories of hardship and of the deaths of their coworkers. Time and again, none of them seems to be convinced with investigations into their
friends' and compatriots' deaths.
And again, amongst the keening and wailing of his distraught family, no one is sure how
Kishun Das, brought back home in a red coffin along hazardous roads, met his end in Qatar.
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