Why do so many Bangladeshi migrant workers die abroad?
As much as the government is interested in using the billions of remittance dollars sent by migrant workers, it shows little interest in ensuring their safety and well-being abroad. The government does not have to spend for the workers migrating abroad—they arrange the money by themselves, often taking loans or selling properties, or contact brokers to go abroad and send money back to the country through hard work. Far from taking appropriate measures to protect them from deprivation and fraud, there is no government action to investigate and prevent the unusual deaths of migrant workers in the destination countries.
According to the Wage Earners' Welfare Board (WEWB) data, 4,552 migrant workers returned home as corpses in 2023—the highest figure in a decade. In 2022, as many as 3,904 migrants returned as corpses. Since 1993, Bangladesh has received 51,956 corpses of migrant workers, of which 34,323 arrived over the last 10 years. Between July 2017 and June 2022, 17,871 dead bodies of migrant workers returned to the country, 67.4 percent of which came from the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain.
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In many cases, the causes of migrant workers' death every year remains unexplained. Stroke or heart attack is cited as the cause of death by the authorities in the destination countries. Bangladesh accepts the death certificates from the destination countries and does not verify their accuracy. These migrant workers are allowed to go abroad only if they prove themselves completely healthy after undergoing various health tests. Why, then, are these young people dying prematurely of heart disease or stroke after going abroad? It is crucial to investigate whether these unusual deaths have anything to do with unsafe working environments, heat and humidity, overwork, pollution, psychosocial stress, and the workers' lack of access to healthcare.
According to a report titled "The Deaths of Migrants in the Gulf," produced by Vital Signs, an international organisation investigating the migrant workers' death in the Middle East, around 10,000 migrant workers from South and Southeast Asia die in the six GCC countries every year. The information provided by the governments of these countries regarding these deaths is fragmented, incomplete and inconsistent. As a result, more than half of these deaths remain unexplained. Death certificates list the causes of death in general terms such as "natural causes" or "cardiac arrest," not specifying the exact reasons.
It is the duty of the destination countries to enact and implement appropriate laws to ensure a safe working environment for migrant workers, properly investigate workers' deaths, and identify any link between workers' deaths and unsafe working and living conditions. To do this, the destination countries need to make available comprehensive statistics on migrant worker deaths so that public health experts can do research and uncover the underlying causes of death.
Most migrant workers in the Middle East work in the infrastructure sector where they have to work amid extreme heat during the day. According to Vital Signs' research, these workers suffer from chronic kidney disease due to working in extreme heat. Excessive working hours lead to complications, such as increased risk of morbidity and disability from cardiovascular diseases such as stroke and heart attack. Besides, workers in such industries, including construction, face various risks due to a lack of proper occupational health and safety measures. Women domestic workers have to work at high risks of physical, mental and sexual abuse, which increases their risk of premature death and suicide.
But destination countries in the Middle East do not want to be held liable for compensation for workers' deaths due to lack of protection or other forms of negligence. The compulsory expatriate workers' insurance is in force in Bangladesh for expatriate workers, the premium of which is to be deposited with other fees paid for the exit permit by the expatriate worker. As a result, the burden of compensating families does not fall on the Gulf countries, but on low-wage workers.
Generally, in countries where citizens' lives are valued and respected, if a citizen dies abnormally abroad, the country investigates the death. Its purpose is not only to identify the real cause of death, but also to send a message to the host country that the life of each of its citizens is important, and no injustice or negligence will be tolerated. As a result, destination countries and recruiting agencies are forced to be cautious. If there was an on-site investigation for each unusual death of a migrant worker initiated by the Bangladesh mission in the destination country, if the migrant worker's workplace, residence, hospital, etc were visited to find out if there were any incidents of negligence or oppression, if the destination country was asked for justification of the death and also proper compensation, the destination country and the employers would be forced to be cautious.
But we see our migrant workers being treated as mere "remittance machines." The difference between a remittance machine and other export products is that this machine is not housed in a beautiful air-conditioned showroom, it has no warranty or guarantee, and there is no service centre for maintenance. This machine sells land and houses and exports itself. The government takes no responsibility for ensuring the life and livelihood of the remittance machines, but does not hesitate to utilise the remittances they send. Who cares if these "remittance machines" are "damaged"?
However, both Bangladesh and the destination countries are heavily dependent on migrant workers, who fill the labour force shortages in the destination countries. Otherwise, these countries would not be able to continue many important jobs for the development of their economies, including infrastructure development. On the other hand, without the remittances sent by migrant workers, Bangladesh would not be able to import vital items like industrial raw materials, food, fuels, etc. Therefore, both origin and destination countries have a responsibility to ensure a safe working environment for migrant workers.
It is the duty of the destination countries to enact and implement appropriate laws to ensure a safe working environment for migrant workers, properly investigate workers' deaths, and identify any link between workers' deaths and unsafe working and living conditions. To do this, the destination countries need to make available comprehensive statistics on migrant worker deaths so that public health experts can do research and uncover the underlying causes of death. On the other hand, the responsibility of an origin country like Bangladesh is to put pressure on the destination countries to ensure a safe working environment for migrant workers, and also demand proper investigation and complete statistics on the deaths. At the same time, Bangladesh needs to take initiative to investigate migrant workers' death and ensure proper compensation from the destination countries.
Kallol Mustafa is an engineer and writer who focuses on power, energy, environment and development economics. He can be reached at kallol_mustafa@yahoo.com
Views expressed in this article are the authors' own.
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