A/HRC/38/41/Add.1 abuse in the destination country. For instance, terms of employment, remuneration, employing company or the type of work agreed upon in Nepal were changed upon arrival in the destination country; contracts were substituted; the contract was not translated into a language migrant workers understood and they were not given a copy of the contract; migrant workers, including migrant children, were sent on forged or fake documents; or workers faced non-payment of or deductions in wages. The Special Rapporteur also heard testimonies of migrants who had not received information on how to complain if the contract was not respected. Many lived in overcrowded or substandard conditions and were forced to remain with their employers despite being abused. 49. The Special Rapporteur received accounts that the labour attachés were often not properly trained in labour and human rights and were unaware of the situation of migrants in distress or unwilling to assist and protect them and facilitate their repatriation. In that regard, Nepal needs to strengthen its welfare services and the consular assistance provided to Nepalese migrants, regardless of migratory status. Labour attachés and ambassadors to countries with a significant Nepalese migrant population should not have ties to recruitment agencies, as it makes their willingness to support migrants questionable. 50. He was informed through the authorities that the Foreign Employment Promotion Board makes free legal assistance through the embassies in destination countries available. However, he heard that the embassies often do not provide adequate information and support services to workers who have grievances against their employers and that as a result migrant workers prefer to return to Nepal. He encourages the Board to use its funds not only to facilitate exit permits or assist migrants implicated in criminal cases or being held in detention, but to ensure that migrants, including irregular migrants, can seek redress through the courts in the destination country, with the embassies providing a roster of competent local lawyers. 51. The Special Rapporteur was informed about the worryingly high number of deaths and injuries of migrant workers. In the fiscal years 2008/09–2014/15, a total of 4,211 migrants passed away in Malaysia and the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, with cardiac arrests, natural deaths and traffic accidents seemingly the main reasons for death among men, and suicide, natural deaths, traffic accidents and heart attacks being the main reasons for death among women.10 He observes that among the male population, cardiac arrests and natural deaths are disproportionately high for a population of which 68 per cent are aged between 18 and 36, and he encourages the Government to conduct and validate post mortem examinations on a regular basis. He further encourages Nepalese embassies to ensure that ILO occupational health and safety standard provisions in destination countries are enforced in migrants’ workplaces and in their accommodation. Those provisions should be included in all memorandums of understanding and bilateral agreements concluded with destination countries. 52. The Special Rapporteur observes that exploitation and violence, including sexual abuse of women at the hands of their employers, seems to be quite systematic. He notes that in four destination countries, shelters have been set up in embassy premises. Many interlocutors described how they felt so desperate that suicide seemed the only solution to them. The Special Rapporteur observes that support to migrant women, including through having women officers to deal with cases of sexual abuse, the provision of a local 24/7 hotline free of charge and assistance with changing the workplace, seeking redress or facilitating return, needs to be enhanced as a matter of priority. 53. He also notes the need to enhance cooperation with destination States to ensure that the rights of the Nepalese are respected during the whole migration process. The Government of Nepal, in cooperation with the destination country, must ensure that Nepalese migrants’ rights in destination countries meet international standards with respect to facilities at work, access to justice, freedom of mobility and access to health, sanitation and freedom of association. The Special Rapporteur encourages the authorities, and especially labour attachés and consular services, to collect better data in terms of the 10 10 See Ministry of Labour and Employment, “Labour migration for employment”.