Kathmandu/siraha, March 20 -- The escalating tensions in the Gulf region, triggered by the ongoing standoff involving the United States, Israel and Iran, have disrupted the repatriation of the bodies of Nepali migrant workers who died in the region.

As a result, 22 bodies remain stranded-eight in the United Arab Emirates and seven each seven in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia-despite the Nepali embassies in those countries already granting permission for their repatriation.

One such case is that of Ramesh Kumar Mochi of Shivanagar in Sukhipur Municipality-1, Siraha, who died in Kuwait on March 5. His last contact with his family back home was on the night of March 4, just a day before the recently concluded parliamentary elections in Nepal.

In...