The U.N. human rights commissioner’s office “is appalled” that two residents were found dead during the demolition drive.
Protests have erupted in Nepal after authorities began demolishing squatter settlements of the poor across the country, ignoring criticism from rights groups.
“There is a growing fear of long-term displacement and lack of proper rehabilitation among the landless squatters and informal settlers living in different parts of the country,” said Lyam Bahadur Darji, chairperson of Nepal Land Rights Forum.
The non-governmental organization advocating for land-deprived communities, along with hundreds of affected people and activists, organized protests in Kathmandu on May 11.
Protests demanded an immediate halt to the demolition drive, claiming it was carried out without adequate protection and housing facilities as promised earlier.
The nationwide eviction drive to remove squatter settlements along riverbeds and highways, on public and government-owned land, was launched on April 25.
Darji said the poor and landless squatters hoped for a better future when the new government, headed by rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah, took office in March.
The 100-point reform agenda issued by the prime minister on March 27 pledged to complete an integrated digital record and verification of landless squatters and unmanaged settlers within 60 days.
The government was formed after the historic Gen-Z movement.
“We believed that the voices of landless communities would be heard and be adequately addressed, but instead the government targeted the poor and vulnerable people first,” he said.
Evictions leave thousands displaced amid renewed land debate
Nepal has an estimated 1.2 million landless and internal migrants, according to the Land Problem Resolution Commission.
They are mostly settled on public land along riversides, highways, on government land, and in forests across the country.
Nepal has formed at least 19 commissions since 1990 to address the issue, but with limited success.
“The government has the right and responsibility to protect public lands. However, the law enforcement, including the eviction drives, must be guided by justice and humanity,” Pastor Tanka Subedi told UCA News on May 12.
Subedi, a human rights defender, stressed that not everyone living on public land is a criminal.
“These are poor and vulnerable families, including victims of natural disasters, who have nowhere to go,” he said.
The evictions have left over 15,000 displaced in the national capital, Kathmandu, alone. Entire families were forced to evict their homes on short notice, within 24 hours, activists said.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on May 11 said in a statement that the forceful evictions of thousands of people by the authorities risk violating Nepal’s obligations under international human rights law and its own constitutional protections.
“We are deeply troubled by reports that thousands of people – many of whom are internally displaced and in situations of acute vulnerability – are being evicted without adequate safeguards,” the statement said.
It also mentioned that the U.N. experts’ group “is appalled that two residents were found dead during the demolition drive.”
Featured image: People watch as heavy construction equipment is used to demolish squatter settlements near the Bagmati River in Kathmandu on May 1. Nepali authorities have been demolishing informal settlements of thousands of people across the nation, despite criticism from rights groups. (Prakash Mathema/AFP/Via UCANews/Nepal)
