All That Remains

Abstract

This chapter examines the ways in which various host countries (other than the USA) deal with the repatriation of dead migrants and what has been so far a simple business transaction: migrant sells his/her labor to host country in exchange for X amount of money and protection and becomes a confluence of sociopolitical, religious, and class issues when the migrant worker dies. The chapter explores the practices associated with the repatriation of dead migrants in places such as Thailand and Dubai and weaves in compelling testimonies from a Mexican mother and an Afghan father, both migrants who lost family members whose bodies could not be repatriated.

The chapter ends with excerpts from the book titled “Looking for Esperanza: The Story of a Mother, a Child Lost and why they Matter to us,” through which the reader learns about Esperanza, a Mexican woman who lost her youngest child to dehydration somewhere in the Sonoran Desert. She was forced to leave her child in an unmarked grave and the memories of that unceremonious burial marked Esperanza for life. I interviewed her for months, visited her home, and shared food and rides with her. We talked about the unmarked grave and what it would mean to her feeble mental state to be able to find the baby’s grave, exhume her and give to all that remains of the baby a proper burial.