Nepal: Accounting for nearly 12% of deaths, Govt. data reveals alarming suicide rates among migrant workers traveling abroad for work
Summary
Date Reported: 6 Apr 2023
Location: Kuwait
Other
Not Reported ( Sector not reported/applicable ) - EmployerAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Nepal - Sector unknown , Gender not reported )Issues
Dismissal , Wage Theft , Recruitment Fees , Contract Substitution , Deaths , Freedom of Association , Retention of identity documents , Access to Non-Judicial RemedyResponse
Response sought: No
Action taken: Workers organised a protest and the company took the worker's ID in retaliation, preventing him from working. He was then fired after being accused of drinking alcohol, a claim his colleague has denied. After he died by suicide, his family was shown evidence of payment for outstanding due to the Nepal Embassy in Kuwait the family say they had not received anything and are saddled with debt.
Source type: News outlet
"Families mourn ‘devastating’ suicide rates among Nepal’s migrant workers", 6 April 2023
Every year about 1,000 migrant workers from Nepal die abroad, most of them in the Gulf and Malaysia. While the deaths of migrant workers in workplace accidents and from heart failure have been well documented, suicides have received far less attention. And yet, among Nepalis working abroad, almost 12% of deaths are recorded as suicide.
Long periods of separation from families, debt, abusive working conditions, unsanitary accommodation, loneliness and a lack of social support services are all likely to be factors which leave workers vulnerable to severe mental health problems and thoughts of suicide, say experts.
[...]
Details of the circumstances of a death were often passed down through networks of co-workers and relatives – employers rarely contacted next of kin – leaving families confused about what happened, and in some cases, unsure whether their loved one had taken their own life or died by other means.