At least 700 Bangladeshi migrant workers were buried in Saudi Arabia in last three months due to travel ban and shortage of space at mortuaries there, officials said.
Family members here said they were unwilling to give consent for burial of their near and dear ones on foreign soil.
They, however, gave up hope for bringing the bodies back home as the bodies are not kept at mortuaries there for more than 14 days after death.
Some 300 Bangladeshi workers were buried in June after the Bangladesh embassy in Saudi Arabia issued no objection certificates (NOCs) to complete the funereal process.
The embassy officials said the number of deaths of Bangladeshi workers increased remarkably in the past two months. More than 20 workers die every day for different reasons, including cardiac arrest. Of them, 5-6 workers die of Covid-19, according to their count.
There is only 72-hour timeframe for burial of the coronavirus victims as the mortuaries in Saudi hospitals are full of bodies, the officials pointed out.
The Saudi authorities bury them hurriedly if the countries of origin fail to bring the bodies home due to flight halt.
"We're issuing NOCs to bury the workers since it is not possible for us to send the bodies home within the given timeframe," Bangladesh Labour Counsellor Md Mehedi Hasan told the FE.
If and when the workers are buried without NOCs, it would be hard to find out their family members. In case of missing information, the family members will be deprived of financial assistance provided by the Wage Earners' Welfare Board (WEWB), said officials in Dhaka.
Jarina Begum, a mother of three children, hailing from Manikganj, said she wanted to bring back her husband's body home. But the mission officials told her that the Saudi government would bury her husband without any documentation, should she not give permission soon.
"So, I gave permission. And it was heart-breaking for me as I couldn't believe that my husband died of heart failure. What should I tell my children who failed to see their father's face for last time?" she said recalling that she talked to her husband Yunus Mia only two days before his death.
He was supposed to come home in March but could not due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Liakat Ali, a Bangladeshi staying in Saudi Arabia for almost 30 years, said the workers have been facing crisis of foods and accommodation and of course money for more than three months.
Losing job opportunities in most cases, the workers are now in dire straits which has coincided with the rise in heart failure and stroke.
In 2019, the WEWB data showed, Bangladesh received a total of 3,658 bodies of migrant workers from different destinations, especially Saudi Arabia, the highest concentration of Bangladeshi workers. More than 2.0 million Bangladeshis are working in KSA.
While around 300 bodies are brought back home on average a month, the last three months saw a lower number of coffins with expatriates reaching home.
"Only an insignificant number of dead bodies was carried by passenger-carrying chartered flights from some countries including Qatar, Bahrain and Malaysia since March this year," said Zahid Anwar, deputy director and focal point of information at WEWB.
When contacted, he said they had no information about burial of the bodies of non-covid patients from job destination countries other than Saudi Arabia.
Migrant workers who will die of coronavirus, their family members would be entitled to financial assistance from the board. It provides Tk 300,000 as financial grant and Tk 35,000 for burial to each family.
"But the families of undocumented workers will not get the fund if the workers die of other diseases," Zahid Anwar added.
In Saudi Arabia, more than 500 Bangladeshis have so far died of coronavirus, according to the embassy officials.
Sumaiya Islam, executive director at Bangladesh Nari Sromik Kendra (BNSK), insisted that all families of deceased migrants should be given financial grants by WEWB.
"It shouldn't be discriminatory to undocumented workers as the families face the same financial crisis during the Covid-19 pandemic." she said arguing that undocumented workers are victims of overall circumstances.
Ms Islam also expressed worries over the current death rate of Bangladeshi workers in Saudi Arabia. She stressed the need for ensuring proper facilities and rights for workers' healthy lives.
