If you are unfortunate enough to die in another country, you'd be advised to do it in the Netherlands. At Amsterdam's Schiphol airport your coffin will not end up stored in a freight depot and your body will be returned to your homeland in tip-top condition.

Many migrants want to be buried or cremated in their homeland. In most countries their mortal remains would end up in freight storage awaiting a flight back home. However, here in the Netherlands they are entrusted to the tender ministrations of Theo de Haardt, care manager of Schiphol Mortuary.

Snacks and sashes
In a grey concrete building near a runway, amidst the noise of jet engines and the stench of aviation fuel, De Haardt attempts to create an intimate and respectful atmosphere. "This is the only airport in the world with a mortuary. Tea or coffee?"

Family and friends are welcome to pay their last respects in the mortuary. Every day De Haardt sees groups of mourners from all kinds of backgrounds.

"It's different every time. People from Indonesia often bring snacks and drinks. People from Suriname like a party with lots of singing. Nigerian families are immaculately dressed with sashes. Turkish people are extremely friendly and polite. Sometimes we have as many as a hundred people here but there's never any problem."

Lock of hair
De Haardt prepares the bodies of around 1,450 tourists and migrants a year for their final journey home. The autopsy room contains a big stainless steel table where he examines the bodies. What condition is the deceased in, does the body need treatment? Ritual cleansing is often carried out by a rabbi, imam, or, in the case of Surinamers, immediate family members. Finally the body is embalmed so it arrives at the funeral destination in good condition.

Sometimes the family wants to dress the deceased, or they want a lock of hair - or stories and poems written on the inside of the casket. "We can arrange that. 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Everything is possible."

The body beautiful
Two of De Haardt's colleagues carry a coffin from the freezer room towards the runway. "This one was a Muslim. Many Muslims don't want to be buried in the Netherlands because we don't grant burial rights in perpetuity."

The funeral industry in the Netherlands is the world leader, along with the United States, according to the mortuary manager. "We have the most modern equipment for making the body as beautiful as possible."

In many countries, Egypt and Portugal for example, bodies sometimes spend long periods in storage at the airport. Not in refrigerated units, in the hot sun. "Sometimes they're in a state of decomposition." 

"The Japanese really make works of art of the bodies and the coffins. Indonesians have a lot of beautiful flowers. Americans try to out-do everyone but they use too much make-up. I sometimes think: what a lot of lipstick for a man!"

(imm)