National Assembly condemns violent attack on Bangladeshi farm workers |09 June 2020

Members of the National Assembly have strongly condemned the violent attack on three Bangladeshi farm workers at Anse Royale on Saturday evening during which two managed to escape while the third was severely beaten and ended up in hospital.

The MNA for Anse Royale, Sylvanne Lemiel, said it is sad and deplorable when you consider the young age of the attackers. The three Bangladeshi, who work on Jean Paul Geffroy’s Farm at Anse Royale, were apparently sitting quietly on the door steps of the Anglican Church at Anse Royale when they were confronted by the group of men.

“I am appealing to the inhabitants of Anse Royale to unify. It is not the time for such xenophobic action. We have always been known as an amicable, pleasant and welcoming people. Therefore let us remain so. These people leave their families to come and work here to work for us and help develop our economy and in that case produce food for us. So it is very painful and sad to hear that they have been attacked by our own Seychellois. We as politicians should preach what is good and should condemn such violent acts,” appealed Ms Lemiel.

She strongly condemned the attack and sympathises with Mr Geffroy and his workers as well as all other farmers at Anse Royale and expressed the hope that such an act never happens again to tarnish the image of our country.

The leader of the opposition Wavel Ramkalawan, in the name of the Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS), also strongly condemned the violent act. He told Assembly members that it was at 1.50am on Sunday that Mr Geffroy sent him a message informing him of the incident and sent him photos of the injured employee.

Mr Ramkalawan noted that at a time when the whole world is trying to deal with demonstrations and uprisings sparked by the death of George Floyd in the US, and trying to come together to show that violence is not the way to move forward, the LDS joins the Farmers Association, Mr Geffroy and the Anse Royale community to condemn the violent attack on the farm workers.

“We strongly condemn the attack and send a strong message that our country will not allow for us to be led by violence. We pray that the Bangladeshi gets well soon to continue working on the farm,” Mr Ramkalawan said.

Speaker Nicholas Prea, for his part, further stressed that the message being disseminated by the Assembly is one that condemns all xenophobic actions and will never tolerate such violent acts against any foreigner in our country.

Marie-Anne Lepathy