Last Updated: Tuesday, 6 June 2006
No end in sight for displaced of Nepal http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5050108.stm
By Will Baxter BBC News, Nepal
[Many IDPs are from the poorest category of society]
Hundreds of thousands of Nepalis have been forced to leave their homes, becoming Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) during 10 years of civil war.
Most migrated to city centres, moved in with family, or went to work as migrant labourers in India.
Some can be found at the Rajhena IDP Camp, close to the town of Nepalganj on the border with India.
Targeted
Bachu Rokoya has lived in the camp for some 18 months now.
She is shy and solemn in recounting the story of how her husband, Danraj, was killed two years ago.
"My husband was working as a postman. The Maoists thought he was an informant, using his position to give information to the security forces.
"But he wasn't, it was just his job."
[Health care is too expensive for many displaced people]
Throughout the war individuals have often been targeted by the government and Maoists even if only suspected of being sympathetic to the other side.
"I was there when he was kidnapped," Bachu says. "My children were also there.
"The Maoists came to our house at midnight; I have no idea how many of them came. First they were knocking on the door, and then they were shouting 'Where are you, Danraj?'"
"When my husband went to the door, they took him away. That night, they kidnapped six other men from our village.
"They were all murdered, I'm sure, but we never found the bodies."
'Worst infrastructure'
For Bachu and her family, there is simply no home to which they can return. "After my husband was killed," she says, "the Maoists took my home, my property, some money and my land."
In a country as poor and underdeveloped as Nepal, any attempt to reintegrate victims like Bachu will take a considerable amount of time.
It is not likely to become a priority soon.
A recent United Nations study conducted by Walter Kalin, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for the Human Rights of IDPs, said there had not been a coherent, structured response to their plight by either the government or international organisations.
This is due to a number of factors.
[When my husband went to the door, they took him away. That night, they kidnapped six other men from our village
Bachu Rokoya]
Nepal has the worst infrastructure of any country in South Asia, making it difficult for government and aid agencies to reach many areas affected by the war, some of which are only accessible by foot or horseback.
People fleeing their homes as a result of violence are reluctant to identify themselves either with local authorities or aid agency staff for fear that coming forward will result in further harassment.
The result is that they end up squatting in abandoned buildings in district capitals, or populating shantytowns along rivers and main thoroughfares, becoming further marginalized and alienated from mainstream society.
The aid community has been reluctant to set up IDP camps. The Rajhena Camp is the only one of its kind in Nepal.
Subhuman conditions
Aid organisations have been cautious to avoid establishing a 'camp culture' that would leave IDPs dependent on international aid.
While this may be logical, the downside is that there is almost nowhere IDPs can seek help. When camps are set up, word of mouth spreads and displaced persons know where to go for assistance, but in this case, they are left to fend for themselves.
It is estimated that up to two million people who have abandoned their home villages are now living or working part-time as migrant labourers in India and Gulf countries, often in subhuman conditions.
[Both the army and Maoist rebels stand accused of abuse]
Lokraj BK, aged 19, moved to the Rajhena Camp 18 months ago.
To support his family he has been forced to migrate back and forth between Nepal and India for work.
"Maoists were pressuring me to join the People's Army," he says, "but I did not believe in their cause or want to join them.
"I have no money, no opportunity here, so that is why I go to India. I have five family members to support."
Health care is also a serious worry among the IDPs, and many suffer from malnutrition, particularly in families where the husband is absent. Dysentery, pneumonia, diarrhoea - all are all commonly found.
Politically, many people believe that things are moving in the right direction in Nepal.
Democracy and peace both appear within reach for the first time in years, but at the moment it is difficult to know what it will mean for Nepal's refugees.