Skip to main content

Over 800 Nepali migrants in jails abroad, at least 27 on death row

Nepali migrants
Blood money can save 17 of the 27 facing death sentence

More than 800 Nepali migrants are serving jail term in their job destination countries, mostly in the Gulf countries and Malaysia.

In addition to that at least 27 Nepali workers are facing death sentence in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. However, most of them can skip their execution if they pay 'blood money', according to an official report.

As per the Islamic Sharia law, blood money is the money paid by a murderer or his/her family to the family or kin of the victims generally to get clemency from death penalty.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Labour and Employment today jointly presented the details of the report in front of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who earlier directed both the ministries to swiftly work for safety and welfare of migrant workers.

Deputy PM and Home Minister Bimalendra Nidhi, Deputy PM and Finance Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Foreign Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat, Labour Minister Surya Man Gurung and Information and Communications Minister Surendra Kumar Karki and secretaries of their respective ministries were also present.

According to a report received by The Himalayan Times, at least 819 Nepalis are doing in time in 8 Gulf countries, Middle East and Malaysia. These include an alarming number of 427 in Saudi Arabia, followed by Malaysia (217), UAE (100), Qatar (44), Kuwait (26), Bahrain (3) and 1 each in Egypt and Oman.

Charges against them include heinous crimes like murder and manslaughter to minor offences, such as traffic violations, over stay and peeing at roadside.

They face anything from capital punishment to 3 months' of jail term, officials said. Over 2.5 million Nepali citizens are said to be working in these 8 nations.

Among the Nepalis on death row, 24 are facing [execution] in Saudi Arabia, 2 in UAE and 1 in Qatar. "At least 17 workers who are on death row in Saudi can skip execution if they pay victims' kin blood money,'" reads the report.

At least 23 Nepalis are undergoing treatment after getting seriously injured in the course of their job. Most of them (14) were wounded while working in Qatar, where a large number of Nepalis are involved in construction sector for the preparation to host the 2022 World Cup.

After witnessing the presentation made by MoFA Joint Secretaries Deepak Adhikari and Ganesh Dhakal, Prime Minister Dahal directed both the ministries to work in tandem towards ensuring safety and security of Nepali workers in the Gulf, Malaysia and in other states.

He directed MoFA and MoLE to come up with a plan of action to make foreign employment more respectable and safe, stated the PM's Secretariat.

The PM also directed the concerned agencies to make necessary changes in the Foreign Employment Act to ensure swift response in case of emergency involving Nepali migrant, according to Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Bharat Raj Paudyal.

Source: The Himalayan Times, August 30, 2016

⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; send a submission; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com.


Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!

Most viewed (Last 7 days)

He Spent 27 Years on Death Row as a Wrongfully Convicted Man. What Comes Next?

23-hour solitary confinement. 115-degree heat. Jimmie Duncan is haunted by the decades he spent in Louisiana’s Angola Prison—and how, even after being released, he still isn’t truly free. Jimmie “Chris” Duncan wiped the sweat off his forehead as he assessed his temporary home from the parking lot of a rundown motel in central Louisiana. Sure, there’s drug dealing and prostitution, he said on a recent summer afternoon. And he suspected his neighbors were cooking meth on a floor below the room he paid $350 a week to rent.

Florida executes Harold Gene Lucas

Florida state officials executed 74-year-old Harold Gene Lucas by lethal injection on Tuesday evening, concluding a 50-year legal saga stemming from the 1976 murder of a 16-year-old girl in Bonita Springs. STARKE, Fla. -- A man convicted of killing a teenage girl who rejected his romantic advances and wounding two of her friends was put to death Tuesday in the first of three executions planned this month in Florida. Harold Gene Lucas, 74, was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m. following a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke, authorities said. He was sentenced to death for the 1976 shooting attack on Jill Piper and the wounding of her friends, Richard Byrd Jr. and Terri Rice.

Ex-corrections officials urge governor to commute Kansas death sentences

Former Kansas corrections officials are urging Governor Laura Kelly to grant clemency to the state's death row inmates. Former Kansas Corrections Secretary Roger Werholtz has several reasons why he thinks the state should abolish the death penalty. Werholtz, who served as secretary from 2002 to 2010 and returned on an interim basis in 2019, uses his discussions with peers and family members of victims as well as experiences of seeing wrongly convicted people getting exonerated as his guiding points.

Florida set to carry out 14th execution this year in the nation's busiest death chamber

MIAMI (AP) — A Florida man convicted of fatally shooting a 16-year-old girl who rejected his romantic advances and wounding two of her friends is set to be executed Tuesday in the first of three lethal injections scheduled this month in the state. Harold Gene Lucas, 74, is set to receive a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke starting at 6 p.m. He would be the 14th prisoner put to death this year in Florida, and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has already signed death warrants for two more executions set for later this September.

Indiana high court sets Nov. 5 execution date for convicted child killer

The court’s decision came a little more than two months after Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita asked the justices to schedule Weisheit’s execution. State attorneys argued Weisheit had exhausted his state and federal appeals, had no active stay of execution, and could lawfully be put to death. The inmate’s attorneys opposed setting a date, saying they needed more time to pursue available legal proceedings and possible executive clemency. The defense additionally pointed to public records that it said showed the Indiana Department of Correction lacked the drugs needed to conduct an execution and had no lawful source from which to obtain them.

Oklahoma Sets November Execution Date for Air Force Veteran Jim Pavatt Amid Claims of Wrongful Conviction

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has scheduled the execution of Air Force veteran and longtime death row prisoner Jim Pavatt for Nov. 12, as his attorneys continue to challenge his conviction and contend that prosecutors relied on false arguments, disputed forensic evidence and an alleged confession they later described as bogus. Pavatt, who served nearly 22 years in the Air Force and rose to the rank of master sergeant, was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2001 killing of Rob Andrew in Oklahoma City. His execution is scheduled for the day after Veterans Day.

Arizona AG seeks execution date for man convicted in 1995 trooper killing

Trooper Bob Martin was killed during a traffic stop on the Beeline highway; execution for his killer could be as soon as January PHOENIX (AZFamily)—The Arizona Attorney General is asking for an execution date to be set for a man convicted in the killing of an Arizona State Trooper over 30 years ago. On Aug. 15, 1995, Trooper Bob Martin was shot and killed while performing a traffic stop along the Beeline Highway.

Iran Crackdown on Christians Intensifies, Ministry Reports Dozens Killed and Hundreds Detained

September 3, 2026: A widening crackdown on Christians in Iran has reportedly resulted in the deaths of at least 33 Christian ministers and the detention of more than 130 others in recent months, according to Iran Alive Ministries, a Texas-based organisation supporting underground house churches in the country. Hormoz Shariat, founder of Iran Alive Ministries, told Baptist Press that at least 33 Christian ministers associated with the ministry had been killed amid intensified government pressure on Christians linked to the underground church movement.

Hanging of Osaka Arsonist is Japan’s First Execution Under Takaichi Government

As a majority of the international community has abolished capital punishment. Japan and the U.S. are the only two countries in the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations that put people to death. The execution of Takami Sunao—an arsonist whose 2009 attack in Osaka killed five—on August 21, 2026, was Japan’s first use of capital punishment in just over a year. Over a Decade from Sentencing to Execution Takami Sunao was executed on August 21, 2026 , for a 2009 arson attack at an Osaka pachinko parlor that killed five people. In July 2009, Takami poured gasoline on the floor of a pachinko parlor in Osaka and set it alight, killing 5 customers and staff members and injuring 10 more. While the defense argued that he was in a state of diminished capacity, the Supreme Court finalized his death sentence in February 2016. The execution took place 17 years after the initial crime and 10 and a half years after the death sentence was finalized.

Florida | Jury recommends death sentence for Jeffrey Crum in killing of 12-year-old girl

BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — A Hernando County jury has recommended the death penalty for a 65-year-old man who was found guilty last week of raping and killing 12-year-old Jennifer Odom. Sentencing for Jeffrey Crum was held this week. Crum abducted Odom in 1993 after she stepped off her school bus in Pasco County. Her body was found in a Hernando County orange grove six days later.