Conflict-hit children facing difficulties in the capital: Report

January 12, 2006
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Many children of the eastern hilly districts are facing the most difficult situation in their lives after they were forced to leave their villages due to the insurgency, a report said on Thursday.

Children displaced from various places in the eastern hilly district of Okhadhunga to Kathmandu are living under extreme miseries without shelter and food in the chilly season, Nepal Samacharpatra daily reported.

They had to leave their houses and live as internally displaced people (IDPs) to evade the Maoists after they were forced to join the Maoists.

The minors abandoned their places after the rebels approached each household, asking the guardians to send one family member to join their military.

At least 25 children are known to have been displaced from Okhaldhunga villages namely Katunje, Chyanam and Harkapur, but none of them know where to go and what to do to manage food and shelter.

“One displaced child, Basudev Dhamala, 15, has gone missing for some time. Persons known to him said that he is out of contact after a construction company expelled him off the job,” the paper said.

Conflict expert Dr Bishnuraj Uprety concludes that the number of persons being displaced from eastern hilly districts is quite high this time. “It would be quite difficult to return home when you are displaced more than once. The situation is getting complex and it may just get worse in future,” he observed.

The paper quoted Okhaldhunga based journalist Mahajit Rai as saying that the rebels caused closure of 24 community schools in the district depriving nearly 10,000 students of right to education.