A shameful crime, a shameful silence

By Dr. Abdulla Al-Madani

With their silence over the issue of kidnapping and killing 12 innocent Nepalese workers last month in Iraq, Arabs and Muslims proved once again their double standards. While their parties, intellectuals, vocational unions, human rights centres, and media have collectively stood up condemning the kidnapping of two French journalists in Iraq and calling for their immediate release, they showed no concern about the fate of the Nepalese workers who were simultaneously kidnapped by an Iraqi terrorist group. Even after the announcement of the massacre, they continued their silence, rather than voice their condemnation, as if Nepalese were not human beings.

Nepal, like France, has no military presence in Iraq. Despite its dire need for US economic aid, military assistance to deal with the Maoist insurgency, and diplomatic support to balance pressure from its two influential neighbours, India and China, Katmandu has refused Washington's request to send troops to Iraq.

Was the reason behind such disgusting discrimination because Nepal is an impoverished country with no resources to campaign for its citizens' release within Arab governments, politicians, and Imams, as the French have vigorously done? Was it Nepal's lack of power and influence in the international community that encouraged the kidnappers to feel free in killing a dozen of its citizens, unlike in the cases of other nationals kidnapped in Iraq? Was it the victims' belonging to Hinduism, given Arab fundamentalist groups' hostility towards all Hindus, as had been demonstrated during the May 2004 terrorist attack on a residential compound in al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia, where al-Qaeda's followers slaughtered a Hindu worker and placed his head at the compound's entrance, dedicating it - according to an Islamic Web site - to their Muslim brethren in Kashmir? Or could it be an unholy alliance, motivated by common hostility towards Washington, between Arab fundamentalist groups and Maoist terrorists who have killed 10,000 Nepalese since their uprising against the Katmandu regime in 1996?

The group execution stunned many in Nepal, leading them to attack a mosque and several Arab firms in Katmandu. Instead of understanding such a reaction, many Arabs have shamelessly accused Nepalese of being hostile to Islam and Arabs, giving an impression that buildings, to them, were more sacred than human lives. Such an attitude, however, was not surprising. A significant portion of Arabs and Muslims have always ignored the causes of events and directly jumped to results. Following the September 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, for example, they have sharply criticized the West of targeting Muslims around the world, imposing restrictions on their funds and movements, and tightening immigration laws against them, but without considering the reason that led to such measures, namely Bin Laden's stupidity.

For decades Nepal, a desperately poor and violence-torn country, has remained detached from the international political scene. Perhaps, if it was not for its membership of the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, and its ongoing civil war, Nepal would not have been mentioned in international news.

As for the Arab World, Nepal neither has been involved in Arab affairs, nor had interest in them. Apart from occasional visits to Mecca by a small number of the country's 3.7 million Muslims, there had not been significant contacts between the two sides until the late 1970s. Things have changed since the 1980s with public and private firms in the Gulf region having discovered Nepal as a source of cheaper labour compared with other South Asian labours. As a result, agencies recruiting Nepalese workers have mushroomed in the region and major national airlines have begun to operate direct flights to Katmandu. And with the number of its migrant labourers in the region increasing, Nepal had to have diplomatic or consular presence in most of the GCC member states, something that until then was limited to Saudi Arabia.

According to an official estimate, there are currently some half a million Nepalese in the Gulf, the largest bulk of which is in Saudi Arabia (around 300,000) and the smallest in Bahrain (around 7,000). The great majority of them work as drivers, cleaners, farmers, builders or security guards, earning an average salary of less than US$ 100 a month. But to Nepal, they provide more foreign currency earnings than exports, tourism, and foreign aid combined. They send in US$ 1 billion a year, according to the country's Central Bank.  

Although they have generally been known for being hard working and honest, and for shunning controversial activities, they were in many cases victims to cruel employers. The murder of a Nepalese housemaid in Kuwait in 1998, brought up the issue of the Nepalese migrant labour in the Gulf for public discussion. After an uproar in parliament and pressure from several quarters, the government prohibited women from working in Gulf countries and regulated men's migration to the region.

However, in a country where a majority of the people lives below the poverty line, the average annual income is $240, and 300,000 people enter the job market every year with only 20 percent of them getting jobs, the government measures have not materialized. Many Nepalese have ignored these measures, including those concerning a ban on traveling to Iraq, and sought employment in the Gulf via India or Bangladesh. According to studies conducted by international organizations, these job seekers often fall victim to Indian and Bangladeshi recruitment agencies or slavery and prostitution mafias. In some cases, they were caught by the Maoist terrorists and forced to fight against Nepal's royal army.

The 12 people cowardly executed in Iraq by the so-called the Army of Ansar al-Sunna, undoubtedly were part of these impoverished workers and had nothing to do with politics or the struggle in the region. But the barbarians of the 21^st century are far from understanding such a simple reality.

Dr. Abdulla El-Madani

Academic lecturer and researcher in Asian studies

elmadani@...