By Sanaullah Ataullah
DOHA: A new office opened yesterday at the Hamad General Hospital (HGH) premises offers all services related to repatriation of dead bodies or their burial inside the country, under one roof, free of charge.
The Humanitarian Services Office is expected to cut the lengthy procedures for repatriating bodies of people dying in Qatar into few hours.
Director General of Public Security H E Staff Maj Gen Saad bin Jassim Al Khulaifi opened the office in the presence of senior officials from other ministries and government departments concerned and representatives of various embassies and expatriate communities. The office has been set up by the Ministry of Interior in coordination with Ministry of Public Health, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hamad Medical Corporation, General Authority of Customs, Qatar Airways, Public Prosecution and other authorities concerned.
The facility is located exactly behind the Mortuary of Hamad General Hospital and close to HR Department of the HMC and Ritaj Hotel and will remain open seven days a week from 7am to 9pm.
Details about the procedures to be followed under the new office were given by the officials in a press conference held later yesterday.
The procedures will be completed through a team work between the Ministry of Interior (Security Department, police stations and Forensic Centre), Ministry of Public Health, Hamad Medical Corporation, Qatar Airways, Public Prosecution, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Department of Consular Affairs) and the coordinators in Embassies and Consulates.
The procedures start from the HMC counter by issuing death certificate and feeding the data of the deceased, then the counter of the Ministry of Public Health verifies the data of the deceased and issues necessary certificates for completing the procedures of various departments under the Ministry of Interior.
The counter of the Qatar Airways issues the cargo policy for repatriation of the dead body and the tickets for people accompanying the bodies.
Then, the Consular Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs coordinates between the Office and embassies for issuance of ‘No Objection Certificate’ from the embassy concerned in order to repatriate the body outside the country as soon as possible.
The procedure for repatriating body of absconding workers will be similar, if the employer had lodged a complaint with the authority concerned saying the worker had run away. Otherwise, the sponsor should have to complete the legal requirements under the residency law.
In case of road accidents security requirements are to be fulfilled and a forensic report is needed to start the repatriation procedures.
If the deceased is a Muslim, funeral prayers can be offered at a mosque adjacent to the Women’s Hospital at HMC. There is a special room in Al Wakrah hospital for offering funeral prayers for non-Muslims. Prayers can also be offered at a dedicated facility in the Religious Complex premises in Mesaimeer.
Col. Ahmed Zayed Al Mohannadi, Director of Community Policing Department at the Ministry of Interior, said that the new office will simplify procedures of repatriation of dead bodies or their burial inside the country. This will give a great relief to expatriates by simplifying the procedures in this regard.
He added that all the administrative fees for different certificates and papers for repatriation of dead bodies or burial in Qatar have been cancelled.
Dr. Salim Al Marri from Ministry of Public Heath said that the Humanitarian Services Office was set up after a study involving all the ministries and departments concerned. He added that Qatar is in the forefront of the countries that offer all services of repatriation of dead bodies under one roof.
All citizens and expatriates in Qatar and citizens of other GCC countries will benefit from this office after following the customary procedures and a team in the office will work to provide all support to speed up the procedures of repatriation or burial.
The contact number of different sections at the Humanitarian Services Office are: Ministry of Interior (40253371 / 40253372 / 40253369), Ministry of Public Health (40253370 / 40253364), Hamad Medical Corporation (40253368 / 40253365) and Qatar Airways (40253374). The fax number of the office is 40380855. The Peninsula
