Migrant worker
Nepal
In memory of

Anish Gurung

2000—2021
Years
of
Age
21
World
Cup
Qatar
22
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Migrant worker
Nepal
In memory of

Anish Gurung

2000—2021
When Jagan Gurung's son Anish Gurung turned 18 he went abroad. – I told him to get married and build a life here at home, but he refused, says father Jagan Gurung. The family paid a recruiter and he started as a construction worker in Qatar. – He was sitting in the front seat next to the driver when they collided. The father says that it feels as if the son will call him on the mobile phone at any time and that he therefore keeps it charged and within reach. – I'm just waiting for him to call and say… Aama, Babaa. Although he died on the way to the workplace, the company has not paid any compensation yet.
— told to the journalistic platform Blankspot
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“He was our only child"

When Jagan Gurung's son Anish Gurung turned 18 he went abroad. – I told him to get married and build a life here at home, but he refused, says father Jagan Gurung. The family paid a recruiter and he started as a construction worker in Qatar. – He was sitting in the front seat next to the driver when they collided. The father says that it feels as if the son will call him on the mobile phone at any time and that he therefore keeps it charged and within reach. – I'm just waiting for him to call and say… Aama, Babaa. Although he died on the way to the workplace, the company has not paid any compensation yet.

Told to the journalistic platform Blankspot

When Anish Gurung turned 18 he didn’t want to continue school, but couldn’t find a job in India.

“My son was just laying around at home, and when we pressured him to keep trying to get a job, he said he could consider working abroad,” says Jagan Gurung, the father.

But he didn’t want to send his son to work in a foreign country at such a young age.

“I told him to get married and build a life here, but he refused,” Jagan says.

After watching his son not earning his keep, hanging out with lazy friends and getting more and more spoiled, he gave in and told Anish he could go to Qatar. They paid a recruiter $1,000 despite the rule that recruiters are not allowed to charge more than $100.

“He started as a construction worker and since he didn’t have much training, he had to start at the bottom and work his way up.”

They stayed in close contact and talked almost daily. Then one day, July 7, 2021, Anish died in a car accident with three others. They were on their way to work.

“He sat up front, next to the driver when they collided,” Jagan says. “His mother can’t stop crying and we still haven’t quite understood that he is no longer here.”

It feels like Anish will call him any moment and that’s why he keeps his cell phone charged and within reach at all times.

“I am just waiting for him to call and say Aama, Babaa.”

Anish was killed on his way to work, but the family has still not received compensation from his employer.

“We haven’t gotten a single Rupee so far. The recruiter told us it could take as long as a whole year before we receive any type of compensation.”

Jagan explains that had the family had income and there was work in their village, he would never have sent his son to the other side of the Arabian Sea. But poverty dictates such choices.

“He was our only child and had just begun sending home money when he was taken from us, now we have no one who can help us,” he says. “We are doomed and without neighbors who helped raise funds we wouldn’t have made it.”

A time after his death, the family received $5,753 from the Nepali government, which will help them for a while.

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