Lok Sabha Question No. 960 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-22
Subject: Death of Indian Workers Abroad
Ministry: EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: Arjunlal Meena

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.960 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.07.2022

## DEATH OF INDIAN WORKERS ABROAD

## † 960. SHRI ARJUN LAL MEENA:

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details and number of Indian origin workers who died abroad while   working   there   during   the   last   three   years,   year-wise   and country-wise;
- (b) the details of process for bringing the dead bodies back to the country in case of accidental death of labourers; and
- (c) the number of such dead bodies brought back to the country from abroad   during   the   last   three   years,   year-wise   and   State-wise including Rajasthan?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS [SHRI V. MURALEEDHARAN]

(a) As per the information available with the Ministry, Country-wise detailed list of Indians who died abroad, including those working there during the last three years is given at Annexure I.

- (b) The process of transportation of mortal remains to India involves various steps, most of which are to be undertaken by the local authorities in the country concerned.  The following are the steps involved in transportation of mortal remains from a foreign country, viz.
-  Medical report / death certificate issued from the hospital concerned;
-  Police   report   (with   English   translation,   if   report   is   in   some   other language), in case of accidental or unnatural death;
-  Consent letter   from   next   of   kin   of   the   deceased for   local cremation/burial/transportation of mortal remains;
-  Clearance   and arrangements   for embalming   of mortal remains from the authorities concerned in the foreign country;
-  Clearance from local immigration/ customs department.
-  Clearance from Indian customs authorities.

These procedures differ somewhat from country to country and therefore there is no fixed time frame for eventual transportation. Government

of India attaches high priority to addressing and resolving the issue pertaining to transportation of mortal remains of Indian nationals who die abroad. Our Missions/ Posts liaise with the foreign officials concerned to expedite procedures for the repatriation of mortal remains to India and extend all possible assistance to the family of the deceased. Generally, the transportation of mortal remains is quicker in cases  of natural  deaths  in comparison to  the cases  of unnatural deaths, due to local procedures involved in those countries for investigating the cause of death in case of unnatural death.

(c) The number of mortal remains brought back to India from abroad during the last three years is given at Annexure II.

*****

## Annexure I

## LS FAQ 960 - Death Of Indian Workers Abroad

| S.No .   | Country           |   Number of Indians who died abroad |   Number of Indians who died abroad |   Number of Indians who died abroad |
|----------|-------------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
| S.No .   | Country           |                                2019 |                                2020 |                                2021 |
| 1        | Afghanistan       |                                   1 |                                   8 |                                   2 |
| 2        | Algeria           |                                   5 |                                   6 |                                   1 |
| 3        | Angola            |                                   0 |                                   4 |                                   3 |
| 4        | Argentina         |                                   1 |                                   1 |                                   3 |
| 5        | Armenia           |                                   1 |                                   5 |                                   5 |
| 6        | Austria           |                                  18 |                                  12 |                                  14 |
| 7        | Australia         |                                 112 |                                  88 |                                  75 |
| 8        | Azerbaijan        |                                   6 |                                   3 |                                   2 |
| 9        | Bahrain           |                                 211 |                                 303 |                                 352 |
| 10       | Belarus           |                                   1 |                                   0 |                                   2 |
| 11       | Bangladesh        |                                  35 |                                  29 |                                  20 |
| 12       | Belgium           |                                   3 |                                   2 |                                  15 |
| 13       | Bhutan            |                                  14 |                                  22 |                                  21 |
| 14       | Botswana          |                                   8 |                                   9 |                                  39 |
| 15       | Brazil            |                                   0 |                                   2 |                                   3 |
| 16       | Brunei            |                                  15 |                                  11 |                                   8 |
| 17       | Bulgaria          |                                   0 |                                   0 |                                   2 |
| 18       | Burkina Faso      |                                   0 |                                   2 |                                   1 |
| 19       | Cambodia          |                                   8 |                                   5 |                                  11 |
| 20       | Cameroon          |                                   0 |                                   5 |                                   8 |
| 21       | Canada            |                                 239 |                                 129 |                                 149 |
| 22       | Chile             |                                   1 |                                   0 |                                   4 |
| 23       | China             |                                  57 |                                  34 |                                  33 |
| 24       | Congo             |                                  12 |                                  22 |                                  23 |
| 25       | Colombia          |                                   1 |                                   2 |                                   0 |
| 26       | Cote D' Ivoire    |                                   8 |                                  12 |                                   5 |
| 27       | Croatia           |                                   2 |                                   1 |                                   3 |
| 28       | Cuba              |                                   1 |                                   2 |                                   1 |
| 29       | Cyprus            |                                   2 |                                   6 |                                  10 |
| 30       | Czech Republic    |                                   1 |                                   1 |                                   4 |
| 31       | Denmark           |                                   1 |                                   5 |                                   5 |
| 32       | Djibouti          |                                   0 |                                   1 |                                   0 |
| 33       | Egypt             |                                  10 |                                  10 |                                  16 |
| 34       | Equatorial Guinea |                                   0 |                                   1 |                                   1 |
| 35       | Eritrea           |                                   0 |                                   0 |                                   1 |
| 36       | Ethiopia          |                                  18 |                                   4 |                                  11 |
| 37       | Fiji              |                                   0 |                                   1 |                                   0 |
| 38       | Finland           |                                   2 |                                   6 |                                   3 |
| 39       | France            |                                  23 |                                  16 |                                  24 |
| 40       | Germany           |                                  64 |                                  83 |                                 103 |

| 41    | Ghana               | 14   | 19   | 22   |
|-------|---------------------|------|------|------|
| 42    | Greece              | 29   | 34   | 41   |
| 43    | Guatemala           | 0    | 0    | 1    |
| 44    | Guinea              | 0    | 3    | 6    |
| 45    | Hungary             | 2    | 3    | 2    |
| 46    | Indonesia           | 36   | 23   | 34   |
| 47    | Iran                | 11   | 7    | 14   |
| 48    | Iraq                | 12   | 26   | 25   |
| 49    | Ireland             | 11   | 8    | 5    |
| 50    | Israel              | 8    | 5    | 6    |
| 51    | Italy               | 239  | 216  | 304  |
| 52    | Jamaica             | 3    | 1    | 2    |
| 53    | Japan               | 11   | 24   | 21   |
| 54    | Jordan              | 10   | 25   | 19   |
| 55    | Kazakhstan          | 5    | 2    | 1    |
| 56    | Kenya               | 24   | 20   | 41   |
| 57    | Korea (Republic of) | 4    | 9    | 7    |
| 58    | Kuwait              | 707  | 1279 | 1201 |
| 59    | Kyrgyzstan          | 1    | 7    | 3    |
| 60    | Laos PDR            | 0    | 1    | 0    |
| 61    | Lebanon             | 11   | 21   | 10   |
| 62    | Libya               | 1    | 0    | 1    |
| 63    | Madagascar          | 7    | 4    | 6    |
| 64    | Malawi              | 8    | 11   | 20   |
| 65    | Malaysia            | 441  | 412  | 592  |
| 66    | Maldives            | 7    | 13   | 17   |
| 67    | Mali                | 2    | 7    | 7    |
| 68    | Malta               | 3    | 2    | 6    |
| 69    | Mauritius           | 9    | 9    | 10   |
| 70    | Mexico              | 6    | 3    | 5    |
| 71    | Morocco             | 1    | 1    | 2    |
| 72    | Mongolia            | 0    | 0    | 1    |
| 73    | Mozambique          | 11   | 14   | 11   |
| 74    | Myanmar             | 8    | 8    | 10   |
| 75    | Namibia             | 3    | 0    | 3    |
| 76    | Nepal               | 101  | 105  | 91   |
| 77    | Netherlands         | 8    | 17   | 12   |
| 78    | New Zealand         | 49   | 20   | 31   |
| 79    | Niger               | 0    | 2    | 0    |
| 80    | Nigeria             | 13   | 79   | 75   |
| 81    | Norway              | 3    | 1    | 3    |
| 82    | Oman                | 485  | 630  | 913  |
| 83    | Pakistan            | 1    | 6    | 1    |
| 84    | Palestine           | 1    | 0    | 0    |
| 85    | Panama              | 2    | 4    | 10   |
| 86    | Papua New Guinea    | 2    | 1    | 1    |
| 87 88 | Peru Philippines    | 1 77 | 0 51 | 2 67 |
|       | Poland              | 4    | 13   | 12   |
| 89    |                     |      |      |      |

|   90 | Portugal                 |   17 |   14 |   19 |
|------|--------------------------|------|------|------|
|   91 | Qatar                    |  250 |  385 |  420 |
|   92 | Romania                  |    1 |    3 |    8 |
|   93 | Russia                   |   16 |   19 |   26 |
|   94 | Rwanda                   |    0 |    2 |    4 |
|   95 | Saudi Arabia             | 2353 | 3753 | 2328 |
|   96 | Serbia                   |    1 |    0 |    3 |
|   97 | Senegal                  |    5 |    6 |    7 |
|   98 | Seychelles               |    7 |    7 |    6 |
|   99 | Sierra Leone             |    0 |    0 |    1 |
|  100 | Singapore                |  165 |  166 |  170 |
|  101 | Slovak Republic          |    0 |    0 |    1 |
|  102 | South Africa             |   37 |   35 |   66 |
|  103 | South Sudan              |    4 |    3 |    6 |
|  104 | Spain                    |   37 |   32 |   25 |
|  105 | Sri Lanka                |   47 |   27 |   28 |
|  106 | Sudan                    |    2 |   21 |   20 |
|  107 | Suriname                 |    1 |    0 |    1 |
|  108 | Swaziland                |    0 |    3 |    6 |
|  109 | Sweden                   |    2 |    6 |    5 |
|  110 | Switzerland              |   10 |   12 |    2 |
|  111 | Syria                    |    2 |    0 |    3 |
|  112 | Tanzania                 |   21 |   27 |   48 |
|  113 | Thailand                 |  101 |   76 |  113 |
|  114 | Togo                     |    0 |    0 |    4 |
|  115 | Trinidad & Tobago        |    0 |    1 |    7 |
|  116 | Tunisia                  |    0 |    3 |    7 |
|  117 | Turkey                   |    4 |    6 |    9 |
|  118 | Turkmenistan             |    0 |    0 |    1 |
|  119 | Uganda                   |   41 |   57 |   44 |
|  120 | United Arab Emirates     | 1751 | 2454 | 2714 |
|  121 | United Kingdom           |  141 |   90 |  140 |
|  122 | Ukraine                  |    2 |    6 |   13 |
|  123 | United States of America |  458 |  280 |  395 |
|  124 | Uzbekistan               |    1 |    1 |    3 |
|  125 | Venezuela                |    0 |    0 |    3 |
|  126 | Vietnam                  |    9 |    9 |    4 |
|  127 | Yemen                    |    0 |    0 |    2 |
|  128 | Zambia                   |   13 |   11 |   25 |
|  129 | Zimbabwe                 |    1 |    3 |    3 |

*****

Annexure II Number of mortal remains brought back to India from abroad

|   S.No. | Country           |   2019 |   2020 |   2021 |
|---------|-------------------|--------|--------|--------|
|       1 | Afghanistan       |      1 |      4 |      2 |
|       2 | Algeria           |      5 |      4 |      0 |
|       3 | Angola            |      0 |      2 |      1 |
|       4 | Argentina         |      0 |      1 |      3 |
|       5 | Armenia           |      1 |      5 |      3 |
|       6 | Austria           |      4 |      0 |      6 |
|       7 | Australia         |     87 |     48 |     66 |
|       8 | Azerbaijan        |      6 |      3 |      2 |
|       9 | Bahrain           |    199 |    160 |    261 |
|      10 | Belarus           |      0 |      0 |      1 |
|      11 | Bangladesh        |     22 |     25 |     17 |
|      12 | Belgium           |      3 |      1 |     14 |
|      13 | Bhutan            |      9 |     20 |     20 |
|      14 | Botswana          |      0 |      2 |      3 |
|      15 | Brazil            |      0 |      1 |      0 |
|      16 | Bulgaria          |      0 |      0 |      1 |
|      17 | Burkina Faso      |      0 |      1 |      1 |
|      18 | Cambodia          |      4 |      0 |      1 |
|      19 | Cameroon          |      0 |      2 |      1 |
|      20 | Canada            |     85 |     41 |     56 |
|      21 | Chile             |      0 |      0 |      2 |
|      22 | China             |     40 |     20 |      9 |
|      23 | Congo             |      2 |      3 |      1 |
|      24 | Colombia          |      0 |      2 |      0 |
|      25 | Cote D' Ivoire    |      6 |     11 |      4 |
|      26 | Croatia           |      2 |      1 |      2 |
|      27 | Cuba              |      0 |      1 |      0 |
|      28 | Cyprus            |      1 |      5 |      9 |
|      29 | Czech Republic    |      1 |      0 |      4 |
|      30 | Denmark           |      0 |      4 |      5 |
|      31 | Egypt             |      7 |      5 |      7 |
|      32 | Ethiopia          |     15 |      1 |      3 |
|      33 | Equatorial Guinea |      0 |      0 |      1 |
|      34 | Finland           |      0 |      3 |      0 |
|      35 | France            |     15 |     12 |     17 |
|      36 | Germany           |     26 |     22 |     39 |
|      37 | Ghana             |     12 |      0 |     10 |
|      38 | Greece            |     27 |     23 |     37 |
|      39 | Guinea            |      0 |      2 |      1 |
|      40 | Hungary           |      1 |      1 |      1 |
|      41 | Indonesia         |     24 |      7 |      9 |
|      42 | Iran              |      6 |      4 |      8 |
|      43 | Iraq              |     10 |     24 |     22 |
|      44 | Ireland           |     10 |      2 |      5 |

| 45    | Israel              | 8    | 0    | 6    |
|-------|---------------------|------|------|------|
| 46    | Italy               | 229  | 128  | 214  |
| 47    | Japan               | 4    | 18   | 14   |
| 48    | Jordan              | 9    | 19   | 11   |
| 49    | Kazakhstan          | 5    | 0    | 1    |
| 50    | Kenya               | 13   | 6    | 24   |
| 51    | Korea (Republic of) | 3    | 2    | 5    |
| 52    | Kuwait              | 603  | 664  | 718  |
| 53    | Kyrgyzstan          | 1    | 4    | 2    |
| 54    | Laos PDR            | 0    | 1    | 0    |
| 55    | Lebanon             | 11   | 9    | 3    |
| 56    | Madagascar          | 1    | 1    | 0    |
| 57    | Malawi              | 5    | 5    | 2    |
| 58    | Malaysia            | 390  | 315  | 287  |
| 59    | Maldives            | 7    | 9    | 17   |
| 60    | Mali                | 2    | 3    | 5    |
| 61    | Malta               | 2    | 2    | 5    |
| 62    | Mauritius           | 9    | 5    | 8    |
| 63    | Mexico              | 2    | 3    | 4    |
| 64    | Morocco             | 1    | 1    | 1    |
| 65    | Mozambique          | 5    | 3    | 5    |
| 66    | Myanmar             | 4    | 1    | 2    |
| 67    | Namibia             | 2    | 0    | 0    |
| 68    | Nepal               | 53   | 81   | 20   |
| 69    | Netherlands         | 7    | 14   | 11   |
| 70    | New Zealand         | 21   | 10   | 12   |
| 71    | Niger               | 0    | 1    | 0    |
| 72    | Nigeria             | 8    | 22   | 42   |
| 73    | Norway              | 2    | 1    | 2    |
| 74    | Oman                | 415  | 298  | 370  |
| 75    | Pakistan            | 1    | 0    | 1    |
| 76    | Papua New Guinea    | 1    | 1    | 0    |
| 77    | Philippines         | 26   | 39   | 19   |
| 78    | Poland              | 3    | 9    | 2    |
| 79    | Portugal            | 11   | 14   | 17   |
| 80    | Qatar               | 192  | 272  | 292  |
| 81    | Romania             | 0    | 2    | 6    |
| 82    | Russia              | 14   | 15   | 14   |
| 83    | Saudi Arabia        | 886  | 894  | 961  |
| 84    | Serbia              | 0    | 0    | 2    |
| 85    | Senegal             | 3    | 5    | 7    |
| 86    | Seychelles          | 3    | 7    | 1    |
| 87    | Sierra Leone        | 0    | 0    | 1    |
| 88    | Singapore           | 163  | 144  | 107  |
| 89    | South Africa        | 27   | 15   | 17   |
| 90    | South Sudan         | 3    | 3    | 6    |
| 91 92 | Spain Sri Lanka     | 6 35 | 6 21 | 3 17 |
| 93    | Sudan               | 2    | 19   | 6    |

|   94 | Suriname                 |   1 |    0 |    0 |
|------|--------------------------|-----|------|------|
|   95 | Sweden                   |   1 |    2 |    0 |
|   96 | Swaziland                |   0 |    0 |    1 |
|   97 | Switzerland              |   2 |    2 |    2 |
|   98 | Syria                    |   0 |    0 |    3 |
|   99 | Tanzania                 |   2 |    4 |    6 |
|  100 | Thailand                 |  33 |    9 |    3 |
|  101 | Togo                     |   0 |    0 |    4 |
|  102 | Trinidad & Tobago        |   0 |    0 |    5 |
|  103 | Turkey                   |   4 |    5 |    9 |
|  104 | Turkmenistan             |   0 |    0 |    1 |
|  105 | Uganda                   |   0 |    7 |    8 |
|  106 | United Arab Emirates     | 878 | 1410 | 1464 |
|  107 | United Kingdom           | 117 |   84 |  133 |
|  108 | Ukraine                  |   2 |    4 |    5 |
|  109 | United States of America | 406 |  220 |  245 |
|  110 | Uzbekistan               |   1 |    1 |    3 |
|  111 | Vietnam                  |   8 |    5 |    3 |
|  112 | Zambia                   |   7 |    0 |   12 |
|  113 | Zimbabwe                 |   0 |    2 |    1 |

*****