Malaysia has emerged as a new death bed for Nepali migrant workers leaving Saudi Arabia far behind. About 113 Nepali migrant workers lost their lives in the destination in the last six months, according to Foreign Employment Promotion Board. Last year Saudi Arabia claimed 85 lives followed by Qatar (73), the United Arab Emirates (22) and Kuwait (seven). About eight Nepali migrant workers died in the South Korea — the most lucrative job destination among the preferred foreign job markets in recent days. About 324 Nepalis have lost their lives in current fiscal year but Malaysia topped the list with most deaths, said acting executive director at the board Girija Sharma. About 3.5 million Nepalis are believed to be working in foreign lands but only 2.5 million are legal. Of the one million undocumented migrant workers, nearly 200,000 are women migrant workers mainly based in Gulf countries. At least 44 Nepalese migrant workers were arrested in Malaysia when about 500 of them rioted at an electronics factory and attacked officers after one their colleagues died due to alleged negligence of the firm last week.
