It has been reported that twenty one bodies of Nepali migrant workers lie unattended in Saudi Arabia, twelve in Qatar, six in Malaysia, four in Kuwait and one in the UAE.

Although the process of bringing six of the forty four bodies to Nepal has been initiated, the legal process required for bringing the remaining bodies has not been worked out. Similarly, the name and addresses of the deceased have not been ascertained while their families also not identified.

Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Tek Bahadur Gurung, gave this information while responding to the question why there was a delay in bringing the bodies of the Nepali workers in different countries at the meeting of the Legislature-Parliament's International Relations and Labour Committee on Wednesday. He said on an average four bodies of Nepali workers arrive in the country in a day.

The committee in its today's meeting directed the government to take initiatives for bringing the bodies at the earliest, to explain in writing regarding the delay in bringing in the bodies and to conclude the labour agreement with the countries which are the destinations of Nepali workers.

Committee president Prabhu Saha said the meeting decided to direct the government to make necessary initiatives for resolving the legal complexities encountered in bringing the bodies home, to make arrangements for also bringing home the bodies of Nepali workers who had gone on foreign employment illegally and also to create the necessary posts at the Nepalese embassies in those countries.

Minister Gurung said the bodies of 880 Nepali workers, who died in various circumstances, were brought home in the last fiscal year.

According to him, the negligence of the employers, difficulty in identifying the bodies, wrong information in the passport, the workers staying illegally and the slow legal process following the workers' death are the reasons in the delay in bringing the bodies home.

Secretary at the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Bhola Shivakoti, said some problems have been encountered in bringing the bodies to Nepal due to the lack of the proper guidelines related to it, adding that the Ministry was working to prepare a guideline.