The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has directed Nepali embassies in the Middle Eastern countries to stay alert in relation to safety of Nepalis working there, amid heightened tension in the region, following the assassination of a top Irani general in Iraq by the US.

MoFA Spokesperson Bharat Raj Paudyal said the ministry had directed the embassies to remain in contact with Nepalis living and working there and regularly update developments in the region to the ministries. Nepalis in the region have also been told to remain in touch with concerned embassies.

While the Nepali embassy in Pakistan looks after Iran, the embassy in Kuwait looks after Iraq. Deputy Chief of Mission at the Nepali Embassy in Kuwait Prakash Mani Paudel told THT over phone that no complications had been reported so far.

He said very few Nepalis were in Iran, while there were more than 15,000 Nepalis in Iraq, mostly concentrated in Bagdad and Kurdistan regions. Although Kurdistan was not risky, Baghdad involved risks. “There has not been any complaint whatsoever so far. We, however, are on alert,” Paudel told THT over phone.

According to MoFA Spokesperson Paudyal, situation in Bagdad was returning to normalcy as per the embassy’s reporting. The Government of Nepal has banned Nepalis to work in Iraq and Iran, but Nepalis end up there through various illegal channels. Many Nepalis have been working in the US embassy as security guards and support staffers. Others work at US military bases in Iraq and with companies supplying logistics to the military bases.

There are also many Nepalis working in other embassies and local business establishments such as restaurants.

Tensions flared in the region after Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds military force and one of the most powerful figures in the Islamic Republic, was killed early Friday in an airstrike in Baghdad.

Published on: 8 January 2020 | The Himalayan Times