By Kamala Sarup

Photo Source pradesh.com
Photo Source paradesh.com
It’s not certain how many Nepalis have been displaced over the past nine years of armed conflict within the country. The numbers have continued to climb and thousands of people crossed over to neighbouring India looking for safety and employment, in that order.

In many instances, villagers fled to their district headquarters or even to cities including Kathmandu, Biratnagar, and Pokhara. According to an estimate, around 200,000 people have been displaced due to the on-going insurgency. Almost 400,000 Nepalis are believed to have gone abroad in search of jobs.

Escalation of the conflict in the western and eastern part of Nepal has forced thousands of people from their homes. There are no phones, no paved roads, no electricity in those areas. The government has not fully analysed the extent of the problem of internal displacement. In addition, additional security spending has limited the funds available for programs that could otherwise be disbursed to provide humanitarian assistance to internally displaced people.

Officials say they are devising programmes to rehabilitate internally displaced persons. But so far no concrete steps have been taken to rehabilitate hundreds of internally displaced people who are living under makeshift camps at Tundikhel in Kathmandu for the last couple of months.

The Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) need food and non-food aid urgently. They are suffering from hunger, disease and inadequate shelter. Acting chairman of the Nepal Maoist Victims’ Association, Dharma Raj Neupane, has demanded that they be given internal refugee status and the government resettle all those displaced due to the conflict.

Police arrest Maoist victims who were on a sit in protest in Kathmandu.

Police arrest Maoist victims who were on a sit in protest in Kathmandu.
Internally displaced Nepalis across the country have been deprived of proper treatment as the government as well as NGOs have failed to address to their urgent humanitarian needs. Some aid agencies are providing humanitarian assistance to IDPs in areas like Dailekh but it seems they lack clear strategies and coordination to make their aid effective.

Internally displaced Nepalese are facing food insecurity, lack of water, and an almost total lack of government’s protection. Providing fleeing civilians with emergency help is often the first step towards their long term protection and rehabilitation.

Adviser to the United Nations’ chief of humanitarian affairs, Dennis McNamara, recently said there are between 100,000 and 200,000 displaced people in Nepal, and hundreds of thousands more have crossed the open border into India. Most of them are not in camps, but millions are affected by the conflict. So the plight of internally displaced people in Nepal should warrant similar attention by the United Nations as is the case in Sudan, Colombia or Somalia.

Under the Refugee Convention, internally displaced persons must be guaranteed their basic human rights such as right against torture, right to security of individuals, and right to employment and health. Economic and social rights are equally applicable. Internally displaced persons must have access to medical care, schooling to their children and the right to work.

The government needs to do more to guarantee protection of refugees whose lives are in danger. The United Nations and especially the western countries must be ready to offer development aid. Second, humanitarian organizations need to respond more consistently and more rapidly. The conflict-prevention machinery needs to be strengthened.

It is but true that the only way to prevent internally displaced people is to prevent war. But there will always be wars because people are aggressive, people want to get hold of and retain power, and are ignorant about the consequences of aggression. Because of the aggressiveness, acquisitiveness, and ignorance of people and their leaders, people can expect wars to continue but what the government and UN can do is to reduce the number and magnitude of wars by strengthening economic and social relations, among others.

People do not wish to live as refugees or internally displaced people. Refugees are one of the most vulnerable people due to internal conflict. Most of the refugees have indicated that they hope to return to their villages if the security situation improved. Civil society must continue to pressure the parties to the conflict to stop fighting and start negotiations.