"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.

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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.