Together with my comrades who were directly involved in providing counseling services and emotional support to victims of disaster and/or their next-of-kin, I am very disturbed and outraged upon reading news reports that the bodies of the ill-fated MAS MH17 were tampered with, and thereby considered desecrated, personal belongings stolen, the aircraft’s blackbox detained, and access to the crash site near Grabovo, in the Donetsk region blocked by armed pro-Russia separatists.

As one with first-hand experience on tending to the needs of victims, their victims’ family, relatives and friends, we shared in their deep anguish, emotional tumults and painful sorrows.

Therefore, no words can describe the disgust felt by team members of the Crisis Relief Squad of MCA upon reading that armed rebel forces had forcibly seized the remains of 196 victims from emergency workers, thereby preventing their release to the respective families; and that the said pro-Russia separatists are blocking rescue workers access to the crash site.

We urge the parties detaining the bodies to observe international diplomacy and protocol, human rights and more importantly, simple humanity by allowing and assisting international aid workers to conduct their investigations and further operations to search, recover equipment and identify the remains.

At the very least, they should empathise with the grief and loss of the next-of-kin.

Detaining the remains and the flight’s blackbox is a very suspicious action to take.

The culprits should be aware that this was a civilian passenger aeroplane no different than the other 14 international passenger airlines forming up to 850 weekly two-way flights which was en route its usual flight path that was shot down.

Neither Malaysia nor MAS are involved in this Ukraine versus Russia conflict and should not be dragged into its hostilities.

Like all peace-loving peoples, we urge for peace and an end to all violence which are disrupting and even taking the lives of the common folks in the region.

Silence and non-reaction sometimes construed as tacit approval. Rather than condoning the inhumane, bullying tactics which clearly defile the innocent victims whose lives were unexpectedly extinguished, these separatist insurgents should place more concerns on tackling homegrown terrorism in Russia as experienced during the sieges of Beslan on Sept 1, 2004 when terrorists stormed and took hostages on the first day of school; or the at the Dubrovka Theater in Moscow on Oct 23, 2002.

In both cases, there were casualties.

CHEW MEI FUN is an MCA vice-president.