62% deaths of migrants due to ‘stroke’

Every day on average around 11 dead bodies of Bangladeshi migrant workers arrive back home from various countries around the world, according to the statistics of Wage Earners’ Welfare Board (WEWB).

WEWB under the ministry of expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment deals with the welfare of migrants.

In the first eight months of this year, 2611 bodies of migrants were sent back to Bangladesh.

It was seen that 62 per cent of the deaths were due to strokes or brain haemorrhage. And 18 per cent died of accidents. Five per cent were natural deaths.

Tajul Islam of Cumilla was a 30-year-old labourer working in Dubai for eight years. He would fit aluminium frames on buildings and was sent to different workplaces by his employment agency.

Two years after working in Dubai, he developed high blood pressure and would come back to the country every year for medical treatment.

However, when the work load was heavy, he couldn’t return for 22 months. His brother Borhan said Tajul Islam eventually had a stroke and died on 12 June in a hospital there.

Similarly, 36-year-old Anis Ali of Sunamganj worked on building construction in Saudi Arabia. He never told his family that he was ailing and never consulted a physician on his trips home.

His wife Shapla Akhter said, “I spoke to him at 8 in the morning on 22 May, but got no reply when I called him at 2 in the afternoon. Later we learnt he had died of a stroke.”

According to the families of the deceased migrant workers, non-resident Bangladeshis, and migration experts, exorbitant migration costs is one of the main causes of mental pressure.

The workers take loans to go abroad on employment, then take on extra work to earn enough to repay these loans. Working from 12 to 18 hours a day, they hardly manage to get sufficient sleep. This too increases the risk of strokes.

The country receives around $billion dollars annually as remittance from these workers. This is the country’s second largest source of foreign exchange and yet the government has no significant investment in the sector.

Bangladesh’s diplomatic missions abroad have the propensity to say that they do not have adequate human resources to provide these migrants with any welfare or assistance.

There are allegations that the government takes no initiative to look into the cause of these abnormal deaths. There is no monitoring of the work conditions. Despite the number of such deaths steadily increasing over the years, the government takes no action.

Secretary of the ministry of expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment, Rownaq Jahan, told Prothom Alo that they have taken note of such deaths.

Most of the workers cannot adjust to the conditions overseas, she said adding they do not have adequate training.

Rownaq Jahan said they were planning to arrange training for such preparations in the future. There were also nationwide programmes to raise the awareness of these migrants, she added.

According to the Wage Earners’ Welfare Board, 80 per cent of those who died while working abroad, had been working in the Middle East, mostly Saudi Arabia.

On 26 March, Bangladesh’s Jeddah consulate provided free healthcare services to the Bangladeshi migrant workers there, where 94 per cent (581 persons) were seen to have high blood pressure.

Counselor of the consulate’s labour section, Aminul Islam, said that the main cause of high blood pressure among the labourers was excessive work pressure, extremely hot climate, high calorie intake and no exercise.

Records show that from 2005 till August 2019, a total of 39,749 dead bodies of migrant workers were brought back to the country. Incidentally, the families of many of the deceased also opt to bury the dead in the host country, though the concerned ministry does not have any records of this number.

Director general of the Wage Earners’ Welfare Board Gazi Mohammed Julhash told Prothom Alo, the reason of death is not assessed here, but recorded according to the information sent by the missions abroad. However, over the past three years, they are ascertaining the cause of death of the women migrant workers, he said.

The private sector manpower recruitment agencies are blamed for the exorbitant costs borne by the migrant workers. The government has fixed certain rates in this regard, but these are often ignored.

Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury told Prothom Alo that the workers do not have adequate training to take the pressure and they die of various causes. It is important to ensure compensation by means of insurance, he added.

Asif Munir has worked long with various international agencies on migration. Speaking to Prothom Alo, he said the government should pay more importance to the migrant workers, even if it is just in the interests of remittance to boost the economy.

It is a matter of disrespect to give their families a perfunctory explanation of the workers’ deaths, he said adding the government must take steps to determine the causes of the deaths and act accordingly.

Asif Munir said there is need for bilateral and multilateral discussions to ensure better working conditions abroad.

* This report appeared in the print edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Ayesha Kabir