Sunday, 05 February 2012
The price increase for the repatriation of the bodies of loved ones has been a strain for low-income expats in the United Arab Emirates. (File photo)
Low-income expatriate workers in Dubai are struggling to meet the costs of sending the bodies of their loved ones back home, with soaring prices for repatriation coffins and an expensive regulatory process.
The repatriation process, which includes coffins that are strictly provided for air transport, has nearly doubled in price by the only company licensed to make them in the emirate.
Under regulation from the Dubai Health Authority, only one company has been selected to provide such services “purely because of security purposes,” a spokesman for the DHA told a Gulf daily newspaper.
The repatriation process, which includes coffins that are strictly provided for air transport, has nearly doubled in price by the only company licensed to make them in the emirate.
Under regulation from the Dubai Health Authority, only one company has been selected to provide such services “purely because of security purposes,” a spokesman for the DHA told a Gulf daily newspaper.
“After embalming, we place the body in the coffin and seal the coffin and this takes place under the direct supervision of the DHA staff who are also responsible for transferring the coffins to the airport, through the municipality ambulance,” the spokesman added.
But the process has now seen a jump in price, up from 1,200 dirhams ($326) in December to 2,300 dirhams recorded in January.
The price increase has been a strain for expats in the United Arab Emirates, which make up an estimated 83 percent of the population and are mostly from India and the Philippines, the two largest low-income worker populations.
“All the expenses now come to more than 5,000 dirhams due to increase in the prices of coffins,” CP Matthew, founder of Valley of Love, a Dubai-based voluntary organization which helps repatriate the bodies of low-income workers, told the newspaper.
“Low-income groups like domestic workers, those who work in cafeterias and tailoring shops will be badly affected. Poor people will suffer,” he added.
Now, low-income expatriates are looking for cheaper methods to bury their deceased.
“A lot of poor workers are planning to cremate or bury their loved ones here due to high charges involved in buying a coffin and transporting the body,” Matthew said.
On many occasions, he said, workers collect money from friends and relatives to pay for the cost of embalming and buying a coffin.
“The present cost of the coffin is too much,” he added.
According to the Dubai Statistics Centre, 1,430 non-Emiratis died in Dubai in 2010. It is not entirely clear why coffin prices and the cost of the repatriation process altogether have risen so dramatically in the emirate, the newspaper stated.
(Written by Eman El-shenawi)
But the process has now seen a jump in price, up from 1,200 dirhams ($326) in December to 2,300 dirhams recorded in January.
The price increase has been a strain for expats in the United Arab Emirates, which make up an estimated 83 percent of the population and are mostly from India and the Philippines, the two largest low-income worker populations.
“All the expenses now come to more than 5,000 dirhams due to increase in the prices of coffins,” CP Matthew, founder of Valley of Love, a Dubai-based voluntary organization which helps repatriate the bodies of low-income workers, told the newspaper.
“Low-income groups like domestic workers, those who work in cafeterias and tailoring shops will be badly affected. Poor people will suffer,” he added.
Now, low-income expatriates are looking for cheaper methods to bury their deceased.
“A lot of poor workers are planning to cremate or bury their loved ones here due to high charges involved in buying a coffin and transporting the body,” Matthew said.
On many occasions, he said, workers collect money from friends and relatives to pay for the cost of embalming and buying a coffin.
“The present cost of the coffin is too much,” he added.
According to the Dubai Statistics Centre, 1,430 non-Emiratis died in Dubai in 2010. It is not entirely clear why coffin prices and the cost of the repatriation process altogether have risen so dramatically in the emirate, the newspaper stated.
(Written by Eman El-shenawi)
No comments:
Post a Comment