| ashu |
Posted
on 27-Feb-01 07:11 AM
For Immediate Release
February 27, 2001
Contact: Lesley Carson and Abubacar Sultan
forefront@forefrontleaders.org
USA (212) 845-5273
Ashley Barr
abarr@emory.edu
The Carter Center, Atlanta, Georgia
USA (404) 420-3885
Forefront and The Carter Center commend the Government of Nepal for its July 2000 decree to make bonded labor a crime. Bonded labor is a form of slavery that cannot be tolerated in any nation, and particularly not in a democracy such as Nepal.
However, governments do not fulfill their obligations by changing the law alone. Eight months after bonded labor was declared illegal, we were gravely concerned to discover tens of thousands of former Kamaiyas, or bonded Tharu agricultural laborers, are homeless, landless, destitute, and living in dire conditions in makeshift camps in five districts in western Nepal. Tens of thousands more are likely to leave their landlords and join the camps in the coming months, worsening the humanitarian crisis.
Many local government officials are ready and able to take positive action to resettle former Kamaiya on uncultivated government land. We commend district governments that recognize the importance of collaborating with local relief and development organizations to resolve this humanitarian crisis quickly. However, the central government must give local government bodies clear instructions and authority to act immediately.
This morning, our delegation met with Deputy Prime Minister Ram Chandra Poudel, and hand-delivered a letter from former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala.
The DPM informed us that he has just assigned five second-class officers from the Ministry of Land Reforms to go to the five districts where Kamaiyas reside. These officers have been given full authority to register lands in the name of the Kamaiyas, according to the DPM, and they will work with district committees and local organizations to accomplish this task within the next month. We are hopeful that this action will remove the primary obstacle to the immediate resettlement of former Kamaiyas.
The government can make dramatic improvements in the lives of former Kamaiya to prevent further suffering by taking the following steps as soon as possible:
Ensure that the five officers use their authority to identify land for resettlement so that former Kamaiyas have adequate land for subsistence farming and are not forced to return to their bonded status. Studies show that 10 katthas of land are required to feed a family of six persons for eight months. Former Kamaiyas, local government officials and civil society groups have in many cases already located appropriate lands for resettlement.
Give former Kamaiyas the legal right to remain on the land that some already occupy. Forestry officials are currently under orders from the Home Ministry to force former Kamaiyas off these open spaces.
Include funding for rehabilitation of former Kamaiyas in the new budget currently being drafted. Essential needs include access to basic health care, schools, and economic development programs to ensure the long term social and economic integration of former Kamaiyas into the community. Civil society and international organizations are ready to contribute human and material resources for these efforts in partnership with the government.
Formally invite international organizations and donor governments to provide immediate relief to former Kamaiya during the coming months. Urgent needs include food, shelter, clean water and basic health care. At least 46 people have reportedly died in Kailali and Kanchanpur Districts because of disease and malnutrition.
The government has shown its commitment to end slavery of Kamaiyas and must now take the critical next steps to fulfill its promises.
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Forefront is an international network of grassroots human rights defenders that provides technical assistance, protection, support and advocacy for human rights organizations in 30 countries.
The Carter Center is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization based in Atlanta, USA, that is committed to promoting peace, health and human rights around the world
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