Raj Kumar Pariyar, aged 31, of ward 7 of Jaimini Municipality got into a serious workplace accident while working for an infra-construction and engineering company in Saudi Arabia on February 10. He succumbed to injuries on the same day.

Five days later, his body was returned home with the help of the Migration Resource Centre. Raj Kumar died before he could clear the loan that he took out to fund his foreign employment process, leaving his wife Sushila and two children helpless.

Thirty-year-old Sudhan Basel of ward 9 of Baglung Municipality went to Saudi Arabia three years ago to settle a loan for his new house. His employment was going well until he suddenly fell ill in September last year. His friends took him to the hospital where he died in the course of treatment. Sudhan’s body was repatriated 12 days after his death with the help of the Safer Migration Project, a bilateral initiative of the governments of Nepal and Switzerland.

Both Raj Kumar and Sudhan had gone to Saudi Arabia legally after obtaining work permits from the government. The bereaved families received Rs2.1 million each in insurance payments. “Families of many other victims, mainly who went abroad without proper work permits, are deprived of insurance or compensation,” said Ganga Sharma Rijal, counsellor of the Safer Migration Project.

Nepalis are travelling abroad en masse due to limited job opportunities and political instability at home. Labour migration can be beneficial, with remittances covering household expenses, including education, healthcare or savings, but concerns about worker safety and security remain unaddressed, experts say.

Thousands of youths from all 11 districts of Gandaki Province are currently working abroad. Scores of migrant workers die annually, raising questions about their safety.

In the last fiscal year 2023-24, as many as 17 migrant workers from Baglung, a hill district of Gandaki Province, died while working abroad in the last fiscal year of 2023-24, according to Rijal. Most of them died in Saudi Arabia.

“The number of deaths among migrant workers is quite alarming. Relevant authorities and all stakeholders should work together to make foreign employment safe and secure,” said Rijal.

Besides deaths, incidents of exploitation and hardships of Nepali migrant workers are also unchecked in various labour destinations. A total of 156 migrant workers from Baglung alone registered complaints at the Migration Resource Centre in the last fiscal year about their problems. Among them 137 were men and 19 were women.

The Migration Resource Centre was also asked to trace the whereabouts of 10 migrant workers who went out of contact in various Gulf countries. “The centre managed to reconnect six of them with their families while four are still missing,” said Min Prasad Upadhyaya, the coordinator of the Safer Migration Project. According to him, a total of 14 migrant workers who faced different problems abroad were rescued in the last fiscal year.

To address the need for better awareness among foreign job aspirants, a counselling room has been set up at the District Administration Office, Baglung. “We provide consultation to those seeking foreign employment as soon as they acquire their passports. We advise them to obtain a labour permit from the Department of Foreign Employment before leaving and to provide their detailed address and contact number to their families,” said Upadhyay.

The number of migrant workers from Baglung is on the rise. As per the data available at the District Administration Office, the number of people acquiring passports is around 5,000 more than those acquiring citizenship certificates.

Chitrangad Baral, the assistant Chief District Officer of Baglung, said that a total of 8,411 people acquired citizenship in the last fiscal year of 2023-24 while 13,059 people obtained passports mainly for working abroad.