Remnants of dreams come home in coffins
He went to oil-rich Kuwait as a low-paid migrant worker about a decade ago to change his fortune, with dreams to return to the country to enjoy his sunset years. But like hundreds before him, Md Kalam's dreams remained unfulfilled.
The 42-year-old migrant worker died in the Gulf country on February 11 -- with the cause of death reported as "stroke".
"He was in good physical condition and had no previous illness," said Alam Khan, a relative of Kalam, who received the body at the cargo complex of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka (HSIA) yesterday noon.
Alam said the death came as shock to his family members back home in Champaknagar of Brahmanbaria's Bijoynagar upazilia.
Also yesterday, relatives of migrant worker Md Delwar (70), who died on February 23 in Kuwait due to illness, received his body at the HSIA cargo complex.
Both the bodies arrived in a cargo flight of Qatar Airways, said officials there.
Md Tazuddin, an on-duty officer at Prabashi Kalyan Desk's cargo wing set by the expatriates' welfare ministry, confirmed arrival of the bodies.
He said after scrutinising necessary papers, they paid Tk 35,000 in bank cheque as burial and transportation cost to the family of Delwar.
Kalam's family members could not show required papers immediately, and were asked to receive the cheque later, he said.
Last year, the ministry's Wage Earners' Welfare Board (WEWB) paid about Tk 12.8 crore as burial and transportation costs against 3,658 dead bodies, which arrived from different countries at three international airports.
The inflow, a little under 305 per month, of bodies of migrant workers remains a big concern and challenge for the government to ensure safe migration.
The average arrival of bodies of deceased migrants in the first two months of the year was more or less similar to what arrived last year, said a WEWB official.
The official could not say the official number immediately.
A large fraction of these bodies arrived from six Gulf countries -- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman -- which house nearly 77 percent of over one crore Bangladeshi migrant workers since 1976.
Kalam's relative Alam said Kalam had been employed at a company in Kuwait. They could learn about his death a day later from other Bangladeshi migrant workers.
Kalam left behind an SSC-examinee daughter and wife, Alam said.
With his nominal income, Kalam had been bearing educational expenses of his daughter and taking care of his wife. Both of them will have to face dire uncertainty now, because Kalam was the family's lone breadwinner, Alam told this newspaper over phone.
At the HSIA's cargo complex, Delwar's relative Zakir Hossain said Delwar had been in Kuwait for more than two decades.
He last visited Bangladesh about 18 years ago, said Zakir, who along with few other relatives came to Dhaka to receive the body.
Hailing from Cumilla's Titas upazila, Dewlar's family was not solvent either.
As a result, he had to go overseas for a job and stay there even after his age caught up to him, said the relative.
Zakir said Delwar left behind two sons and a daughter back home.
His sons are married and work as day labourers.
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