Nepal
in Crisis 2005: Human Rights |
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Human
Rights and Displaced People
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Humanitarian
re-orientation needed, says UN official
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April
2005 [ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United
Nations]
A
top UN official has called for a refocusing of UN agency efforts to avoid
a further deterioration in the condition of civilians in conflict-ridden
Nepal.
Speaking
to reporters on Friday in New York, Dennis McNamara, the UN's Special Adviser
on Internal Displacement, said that the human rights situation was "extremely
serious" and a "reorientation from development to humanitarian programmes"
was a priority.
"That's
what we're urging our UN agency friends to do; to re-orientate," he said.
The
first challenge would be for agencies to deploy a significant field presence
outside of the capital Kathmandu. "Many agencies are captured by Kathmandu,"
he said, explaining that the government authorities had limitations on
the number of UN staff based outside of the capital. "We need to lobby
[the authorities] on this as it is unsatisfactory," he added.
McNamara
travelled to Nepal this month to review the status of people displaced
by the nine-year conflict between the Nepalese government and Maoist insurgents.
Local
human rights NGOs claim that up to 200,000 people are internally displaced,
while up to 2 million Nepalese are believed to have fled or migrated to
India.
"If
this is roughly right, then it's a major displacement of people," said
McNamara. While exact figures were difficult to ascertain, the displacements
were directly or indirectly conflict-related, he maintained.
"We've
heard reports that younger Nepalese were moving due to forced conscription.
In some areas, up to 80 percent of the host population has left over the
years," he said.
The
Maoists imposed nationwide blockades at will, with the exception of the
Kathmandu Valley, which remained under control of the government. In rural
areas, the civil administration was living in military compounds and was
ineffective, the UN official explained.
Local
and international human rights groups share the view that more must be
done to stem the violence in Nepal. Director of Watchlist on Children in
Armed Conflict, Julia Freedson, told IRIN in March that civilians were
caught between both sides of the conflict.
"All
imaginable violations against children are happening. Young people are
suffering violations of their rights by both parties to the conflict. People
are accused and counter-accused by the Maoists, and then the Nepalese government,
and then threatened by both," she said.
Families
were too scared to send their children to school for fear of being detained
or caught in the crossfire. "Children go elsewhere, or to India, often
in dire circumstances and are exploited," she said.
Freedson
considered that the Maoist blockades and the declared state of emergency
would further reduce access to rural areas, and she looked to the international
community to help "end the spectrum of violations committed by both parties
to the conflict".
"The
UN needs to respond to what is an emergency situation, and address the
human rights and humanitarian situation in the rural areas. It has been
operating for so many years in a development mode. This is a chance for
the UN to demonstrate a capacity and willingness to step up to the challenge,"
she said.
A
step in this direction may have already been taken. McNamara told reporters
that a groundbreaking agreement on deploying human rights monitors to both
sides of the conflict had been reached on 11 April in Kathmandu.
However,
he stressed that in recent months the emergence of armed vigilante groups
in the rural areas was an "alarming development", underlining the fact
that civilians were caught up in a no-win situation.
McNamara
said that humanitarian action should not supplant sustained political action,
as was so often the case in past crises, nor should it detract from putting
pressure on the authorities to do more for the displaced.
"In
my view, there needs to be more sustained effort to get key resolutions
negotiated. Humanitarian action is not a solution, it's only a palliative,"
he said.
Credit
and Copyright © IRIN 2005
Integrated
Regional Information Networks (IRIN), part of the UN Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
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Refugees
in Nepal: Bacchu Rokaya and her children at an IDP camp in Rajhena of Nepalgunj |
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