Legal issues about an expat's body once deceased

They sell your bones for top of the line Gris Gris medicine.

But the other answer is that commune contacts the neighbors and Consulate to find family.  If no one wants the Vasaha then the Malagasy government puts them in a cemetery just for Vasaha with a stone cross and name and other infos .   My wife has pointed out a few of those cemeteries that are only for Vasaha over the years. I also think some of them hold dead Vasaha soldiers during the fight for Independence some 50 years ago. 

The Malagasy government will absorb the cost after the body has been submitted to the hospital to see if there has been any foul play.  Not sure if there is enough money in the consulate budget ( depending on the country) to pay for a funeral.  Any money or anything of value of the Vasaha would go to the cost of the funeral.  The couple of stories I have heard is that the bodies were buried, in case family somewhere down the road, maybe months or years from the time of death want to collect the body.  This also means that the body will not be cremated.
I think the one exception to the rule is that if the Vasaha had some type of career in politics, then to bury him, they would have to screw him into the ground.

As for me I could care less what is done with my body, best to bury me and let the flora and fauna feast off of me, as I have done so over the years. 

Happy holidays