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The Nepalese community in Singapore is deeply disturbed and saddened by the news of the recent brutal killings of our fellow citizens in Iraq. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families who have suffered great loss and our hearts really go out for them. We sincerely pray for the eternal peace of the departed souls. At the same time, we spare no words and strongly condemn this senseless and dastardly act and urge all leaders and nations to work together towards bringing these ruthless murderers to justice.
The community also expresses its dissatisfaction over the handling of this issue by the relevant authorities. However, instead of going back and pointing fingers at each other and playing the blame game, we urge everyone to be forward looking and take bold and concrete steps to prevent such mishaps from occurring in the future. We understand that there might be hundreds, if not thousands of Nepalese workers still stranded in Iraq and elswhere. So the foremost thing to do is to immediately find ways and means to evacuate these people as soon as possible. This should be the government’s highest priority task for the moment. An immediate and strict ban should also be imposed to prevent these manpower agencies sending anyone to these unsafe places.
Lastly, we would like to voice our disbelief at the events that have taken place over the past few days in Nepal, especially in the capital. Although we can understand and relate to the anger and frustration, it is our sincere request to our brothers and sisters everywhere to understand that any kind of violent retaliatory action will NOT help in bringing the guilty to justice, rather it will only instigate a new spiral of violence, death and destruction, which we have seen enough in recent years. This is a time for us all to be united and stand as one people, one nation. Let us not try to defeat evil by evil, let us conquer it by the good that we still have in us in plenty.
The Nepalese community in Singapore