More than 500 migrant Nepalis died in the Gulf in 2015, according to data compiled by the Nepali embassies in those countries. A total of 583 Nepali migrants, including two dozens women, died in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Oman and Lebanon last year. Heart attack, accidents on the roads and workplace are among the major causes of deaths, the data shows. Saudi Arabia, where around 600,000 Nepali migrants work, topped the unenviable list with 274 deaths, out of which 145 workers died due to ‘natural’ causes, including heart attack. Qatar, another Gulf country that hosts more than half a million Nepalis,
is second on the lift with 182 deaths. According to the Nepali Embassy in Kuwait, 356 Nepali workers, including 108 female, died there between 1992 to 2015.
Nepali ambassadors in the Gulf have stressed the need for stricter pre-departure medical examinations of prospective migrant workers before they are issued with work permit...