SOARING death rates of Nepali people in Bahrain is causing concern among community leaders.

Ten fatalities have been registered so far this year, compared to an average of less than two a month last year.

It has put extra pressure on senior Nepali Club members, who have to help repatriate the dead as the country has no embassy in Bahrain.

“Last year, we registered 16 deaths and now, in the first two months of this year we had 10 deaths among Nepali workers,” said acting club president J P Sapokota.

“It is not a good year for the Nepali community in Bahrain.

Mr Sapokota said some of this year’s deaths were caused by worksite accidents while the others were due to natural causes.

“Two deaths this year was because of worksite accidents and the remaining were because of natural causes such as cardiac arrest,” he said.

“All the bodies have been repatriated and we, at the Nepali Club, had to co-ordinate with Nepalese Embassy in Riyadh.

“It is tough for us to complete all this process as we are not diplomats, but are doing their duties.”

Mr Sapokota said the club was also dealing with labour and consular issues for the 20,000-strong Nepali community in Bahrain.

“We have to deal with cases of domestic workers and other labour related matters that require us to follow up with employers, police and ministries concerned,” he said.

Nepal’s Cabinet last month announced plans to set up embassies in Bahrain and Oman, which it said were popular destinations for young job-seekers.

However, the country has been without a functional government since May last year.

Mr Sapokota said the political stalemate was likely to come to an end in June when the country is expected to hold an election and create a new Constituent Assembly.

“If you look at the above situation, it means the process of setting up an embassy in Bahrain is most likely to be delayed,” he said.

“This means we will have to continue our work with limited resources.”

Last year, the club sent a letter to caretaker Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai requesting a diplomat be appointed to Bahrain amid increasing pressure on officials dealing with labour and consular matters.
“We do not have businessmen like other nationalities and desperately need diplomats assigned to Bahrain to help us out,” said Mr Sapokota.
sandy@gdn.com.bh