Bangladesh received nearly 3,000 dead bodies of migrant workers from different job destination countries in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Most of the dead bodies were brought home from Saudi Arabia, the largest job destination country. Around 786 bodies were sent from the Arab country, followed by 729 from Malaysia, 306 from Kuwait, 280 from Oman, 267 from the United Arab Emirates, 174 from Qatar, according to the data available from the Wage Earners' Welfare Board (WEWB).
However, migrant rights activists said the number of the dead workers would be much higher than the official figure as many of them are buried in destination countries while many dead bodies are brought home by the families of deceased on their own initiative.
So, a significant number of dead bodies of migrant workers remains unreported by the government's department concerned.
Besides, a good number of migrants who died of coronavirus abroad were buried in foreign soil during the pandemic period.
Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) in its Migration Trend Report-2020showed that at least 2,330 Bangladeshis died of coronavirus until December 27 last year. Of them, 989 migrants died in Saudi Arabia alone.
About 70,000 Bangladeshis were infected with the deadly virus in 186 countries until July 2020, the report mentioned.
Although most of the dead certificates, issued by the destination countries, showed natural deaths, rights groups said uncongenial working environment, heavy workload, poor living conditions and mental stress, caused by different diseases including heart attack and stroke, resulted in their deaths.
Besides, some were killed in accidents while some others were murdered, they said. A number of workers, especially women also committed suicide due to tortures in different ways.
Jasiya Khatoon, director of WARBE Development Foundation said, it is difficult to say exactly how many migrants die abroad every year because many dead bodies of migrant workers remain unreported in the government's databank.
She said it is necessary to keep an option of post mortem at home if the families have doubt about the causes of death of their near and dear ones.
Referring to the case studies, she said the families of deceased sometimes complained that they were killed because of tortures at workplaces.
The WARBE director also stressed the need for ensuring a congenial working environment and standard wages. Migration cost should be reduced at a reasonable level as workers many times take extra workload to cover the cost.
Even they face mental pressure when they go abroad with the job at high migration cost, she added.
The Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) data showed that around 0.6-0.7 million workers go abroad from Bangladesh annually.
Since 1976, more than 13 million Bangladeshis have gone to different countries. But in 2020, only 0.2 million workers could go abroad with jobs due to the outbreak of Covid-19.
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