'Owner didn't pay hospital bill': Expatriate's body to finally come home from Brunei 2.5 years after death

Shipon Howlader, 44, from Barishal's Shahjira village in Gaurnadi upazila went to Brunei in mid-2020, amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The dream was to ensure financial solvency for his family. But it all fell apart after he was diagnosed with a heart disease in early 2022. He later died while undergoing treatment at a hospital. 

The expatriate's tragic story didn't end there. Due to a massive unpaid hospital bill, Shipon's body was not released by the hospital authorities for 2.5 years. After a lengthy wait and efforts by the Bangladesh High Commission in Brunei and local NGOs, his body is finally set to arrive at the Dhaka airport tonight (25 April).

"My husband's employer was not a good man. His body was stuck there for over two years. We couldn't pay off the bills to bring him back," said Khorsheda Begum, widow of Shipon. 

Echoing Khorsheda's remarks about Shipon's employer, Abu Bakkar Siddique, first secretary (Labour), Labor Welfare Wing, Bangladesh embassy in Brunei told TBS, "As Shipon died as an undocumented foreign worker, his hospital bill of around Tk16 lakh was not paid by the employer. No insurance claim could be filed either."

Later, human rights organisation Ain O Salish Kendra made a plea to the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment to bring Shipon's body back, which prompted the government to take initiatives to this end.

The Bangladesh High Commission in Brunei then negotiated with authorities concerned to have Shipon's hospital bills waived.

"It takes around Tk4.5 lakh to bring a dead body from Brunei. Shipon's owner didn't even pay that sum. The money is being provided by the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare," First Secretary Siddique said.

"The body was being held at the hospital morgue for all these days."