Families of 55 missing Malaysians in Nepal want moratorium to ease loans, insurance claims

In light of the flash flood in Nepal, families of the 55 missing Malaysians are urging the Malaysian government to provide a special moratorium on the financial commitments of the missing individuals.

As these individuals were primary breadwinners, their families are facing significant financial and legal challenges, including accessing assets and managing loans.

The Malaysia Solidarity: Families in Hope (MASFIH) seeks meetings with key governmental bodies to find swift solutions and alleviate the strain until death certificates and insurance claims can be managed.

Additionally, efforts are ongoing to expedite the DNA matching process to aid in identifying potential remains.

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 27 — Families of 55 Malaysians still missing following the flash flood in Nepal have urged the government to consider a special moratorium on the victims’ financial commitments, as their families are now facing difficulties accessing the victims’ accounts and assets, insurance coverage, and managing their loans.

Malaysia Solidarity: Families in Hope (MASFIH) spokesperson Dr Manivannan Rethinam said that after 33 days without certainty, financial and legal issues have become among the most pressing concerns for the families, particularly as some of the victims were the main breadwinners.

He explained that the moratorium requested was not for all family members but specifically for financial commitments involving the 55 individuals who remain missing.

“We do not need to wait for the Nepalese government. There are many things we can do in Malaysia now. What we are asking for is a special moratorium for the 55 missing individuals, covering all financial commitments under their names or related to them.

“This will help the families cope until death certificates are issued and insurance claims and estate matters can be settled,” he told reporters after attending a more than four-hour meeting between the next of kin and government agencies at Wisma Putra here today, involving about 105 people.

The session, which began at about 10.15 am and ended around 3 pm, included briefings on search and rescue (SAR) operations, the management of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) samples, as well as legal and documentation processes involving the individuals who remain missing.

Manivannan said the victims’ status as missing persons had placed various constraints on their families, as assets and financial commitments under their names could not be managed as usual.

These included bank accounts, vehicle and housing loans, company interests, and life and travel insurance claims.

He said some families wanted to return their vehicles because they could no longer afford the payments, but faced difficulties because the vehicles were registered in the missing individuals’ names.

As such, MASFIH wants to hold a meeting with Bank Negara Malaysia, the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) and relevant agencies to seek a specific mechanism to resolve the issues faced by the families.

Manivannan said the families have also sought a meeting with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to enable a comprehensive solution to be coordinated at the highest government level.

He said the families appreciated the Prime Minister’s earlier move to contact his counterpart Balendra Shah regarding efforts to establish a special mechanism to address the issue, but believed that several measures could be implemented in Malaysia without having to wait for a decision by the Nepalese government.

On efforts to identify the victims, Manivannan said the families were informed that the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) had obtained 98 DNA samples from next of kin, all of which had been processed by the Department of Chemistry Malaysia as of Sept 24.

He said the process, which normally takes longer, had been expedited to enable matching to be carried out should any bodies be found.

He said three DNA profiles had also been sent to China following information that three of the missing Malaysians had immigration-related records in the Tibet area.

MASFIH, however, urged that the possibility of sending DNA profiles of other members of the same group also be considered if there was evidence that they had been in the area.

According to Manivannan, representatives of the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing had informed them that if families had information indicating that other individuals were also there, the matter could be discussed with the Chinese authorities.

He said the families had also asked PDRM and the Department of Chemistry to reassess whether the DNA samples obtained from each family were sufficient to establish stronger matches.

Manivannan also said the families appreciated the efforts of the relevant teams in explaining the challenges and search operations being conducted in Nepal.

However, the families questioned why the Malaysian team’s operations could not focus on the Rasuwagadhi area near the Nepal-Tibet border, which was believed to be the last known location of some of the missing Malaysians before contact was lost.

According to him, the families were informed that the areas covered by the Malaysian team’s operations were determined based on permission from the Nepalese authorities, while access to certain areas was beyond the control of the SMART team.

He said the families were also informed that there remained a possibility that victims could be found alive if they were in remote areas or villages, although the possibility was considered very slim.

Manivannan said the families were also informed that the Nepalese government was considering ending the SAR phase and moving into the recovery and reconstruction phase, although no date had been set.

At the same time, he said, the Nepalese authorities were working to expedite the DNA matching process, while discussions were also ongoing on documentation mechanisms relating to disaster victims, adding that the families now needed not only information on the search operations but also a clear direction to address the long-term impact. — Bernama

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鉴于尼泊尔发生山洪暴发，55名失踪马来西亚人的家属敦促马来西亚政府对失踪人员的经济义务给予特别宽限。

由于这些人是家庭的主要经济支柱，他们的家庭面临着重大的财务和法律挑战，包括获取资产和管理贷款。

马来西亚团结互助组织：希望之家（MASFIH）寻求与主要政府机构会面，以寻求快速解决方案，减轻在死亡证明和保险索赔得到处理之前所面临的压力。

此外，目前正在努力加快 DNA 比对过程，以帮助识别可能的遗骸。

布城，9月27日讯——尼泊尔突发洪水后仍有55名马来西亚人失踪，他们的家属敦促政府考虑对受害者的经济义务实行特别延期，因为他们的家属现在面临着难以获取受害者账户和资产、保险赔偿以及偿还贷款等问题。

马来西亚团结互助组织“希望中的家庭”（MASFIH）发言人马尼瓦南·雷蒂南博士表示，在经历了33天没有确定结果的日子后，财务和法律问题已成为这些家庭最紧迫的担忧之一，尤其是一些受害者还是家庭的主要经济支柱。

他解释说，所要求的暂停偿付并非针对所有家庭成员，而是专门针对与 55 名仍然失踪人员相关的财务承诺。

“我们不需要等待尼泊尔政府。现在在马来西亚我们可以做很多事情。我们要求的是为55名失踪人员设立特别的债务延期偿付期，涵盖所有以他们名义或与他们相关的财务义务。”

“这将有助于家属们度过难关，直到死亡证明签发，保险索赔和遗产事宜得到解决，”他在今天出席了在太子大厦举行的亲属与政府机构之间长达四个多小时的会议后告诉记者，约有 105 人参加了此次会议。

会议于上午 10 点 15 分左右开始，下午 3 点左右结束，内容包括搜救行动、脱氧核糖核酸 (DNA) 样本管理以及涉及失踪人员的法律和文件程序的简报。

马尼瓦南表示，受害者失踪人员的身份给他们的家庭带来了各种限制，因为以他们名义持有的资产和财务承诺无法像往常一样进行管理。

其中包括银行账户、汽车和住房贷款、公司利息以及人寿和旅行保险索赔。

他说，有些家庭想归还车辆，因为他们再也负担不起车贷了，但由于车辆登记在失踪人员名下，他们面临着困难。

因此，MASFIH希望与马来西亚国家银行、总检察署和相关机构举行会议，寻求解决这些家庭所面临问题的具体机制。

马尼瓦南表示，这些家庭还请求与首相拿督斯里安华·易卜拉欣会面，以便在最高政府层面协调制定全面的解决方案。

他说，家属们感谢首相此前与尼泊尔对等官员巴伦德拉·沙阿联系，商讨建立特殊机制解决该问题的努力，但他们认为马来西亚可以采取一些措施，而无需等待尼泊尔政府的决定。

关于确认遇难者身份的工作，马尼瓦南表示，已告知遇难者家属，马来西亚皇家警察（PDRM）已从近亲处获得了 98 个 DNA 样本，截至 9 月 24 日，马来西亚化学部已对所有样本进行了处理。

他说，通常需要更长时间的程序已经加快，以便在发现任何尸体时能够进行比对。

他说，根据有关三名失踪马来西亚人在西藏地区有移民相关记录的信息，已将三份DNA样本送往中国。

然而，MASFIH 敦促，如果有证据表明同一群体的其他成员曾到过该地区，也应考虑发送他们的 DNA 图谱。

据马尼瓦南称，马来西亚驻北京大使馆的代表告知他们，如果家属掌握信息表明还有其他人也在那里，可以与中国当局讨论此事。

他说，这些家庭还要求马来西亚皇家警察和化学部门重新评估从每个家庭获得的 DNA 样本是否足以建立更强的匹配度。

马尼瓦南还表示，家属们感谢相关团队向他们解释在尼泊尔开展的搜救行动和面临的挑战。

然而，家属们质疑，为什么马来西亚搜救队的行动不能集中在尼泊尔-西藏边境附近的拉苏瓦加迪地区，据信这是部分失踪马来西亚人在失去联系前最后为人所知的地点。

据他所说，家属们被告知，马来西亚团队的行动范围是根据尼泊尔当局的许可确定的，而进入某些区域则超出了SMART团队的控制范围。

他说，家属们也被告知，如果遇难者身处偏远地区或村庄，仍有可能找到幸存者，尽管这种可能性非常渺茫。

马尼瓦南表示，家属们也被告知，尼泊尔政府正在考虑结束搜救阶段，进入恢复和重建阶段，尽管还没有确定具体日期。

与此同时，他表示，尼泊尔当局正在努力加快DNA比对进程，并就灾难遇难者的相关文件记录机制进行磋商。他还补充说，遇难者家属现在不仅需要了解搜救行动的信息，还需要明确的指导方针来应对灾难的长期影响。——马新社

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马来西亚气象局发布预警，七个州将出现晚间雷暴、暴雨和大风天气。

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