KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 26
Abu Thakar, 24, was only 16 years old when he and his wife managed to arrive in Kathmandu, after completing a month-long arduous journey.
They had travelled at least 1,200 kilometres on foot or hitch-hiking – trespassing multiple countries to escape the violent communal conflict back home in Rakhine state of Myanmar. He was told to reach Kathmandu and take shelter in a mosque. From that day onwards, he started thinking Kathmandu would be the promised land for him.
It was October 2012 when some officials from UNHCR Nepal came to his rescue after spending four nights under the Bishnumati River Bridge in Kathmandu to avoid being caught by Nepal Police.
Thakar is one of those refugees from Myanmar who arrived in Kathmandu before the situation turned worse in Myanmar. He had come to Kathmandu with the hope that he would be able to live a dignified life here. By the year 2017, cases of violence against Rohingyas started increasing in Myanmar and more Rohingya refugees started entering Nepal illegally.
Now, more than 400 refugees live in two temporary settlements at Kapan, on the northern outskirts of the valley.
All of them have similar stories to tell.
Increased population of refugees and indifferent attitude of Nepal government and the international community have added to their woes. With no other place to go, these Rohingya Muslims are uncertain about their future as they struggle to find one square meal a day.
Their problems have increased more lately as the landowner, who had rented out the land for their settlement near Rammandir in Kapan has asked them to vacate the land by 2022.
Until 2016 UNHCR Kathmandu office used to support the Rohngyas with around Rs 15,000 monthly allowance for each family. With this support, around 17 families had, in 2015, built a temporary settlement using old corrugated sheets and other waste products.
They had leased the land at a cost of Rs 240,000 per year.
“The landlord has asked us to vacate the land by 2022,” Mohhamad Ayub, 27, a leader of the refugees, said. “We have no place to go now,” he added.
The government, who has been a turning deaf ear to the humanitarian call of these Rohingyas, has done precious little to support them.
Nepal is not a party to the 1951 Convention related to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. Nepal does not have any separate domestic law regarding refugees either.
The Government of Nepal has shown no interest in adopting the convention citing its geo-location, and has been refusing to adopt the refugee convention during the Universal Periodic Review at the United Nations Human Right Council.
“Nepal has clarified its position at the Universal Periodic Review and the government’s position is clear about the legal structures,” said Dhanraj Gyawali, secretary at the Law and Human Rights Division of the prime minister.
With no direct international obligations, these Rohingyas are considered ‘illegal immigrants’ here in Nepal.
The Ministry of Home Affairs, which has been looking after the security and humanitarian aspects of the refugees, is also more concerned about receiving criminal threat from them rather than providing humanitarian support.
Fadindramani Pokharel, joint-secretary and the ministry’s spokesperson, said, “Those who are residing here are required to comply with the rules as the number of Rohingyas being brought to the country illegally is increasing.”
He further added, “Our humanitarian support is to allow them to live here until now.”
Nepal government’s stringent policies on refugees and lack of support from the international community have left them in the lurch.
Nirajan Thapaliya, director of Amnesty International Nepal, said that the government should intervene in the matter and allow the refugees to secure their right to life and other fundamental rights.
Nepal has ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, among others.
Thapaliya said that Nepal as a signatory to such a declaration must protect the fundamental rights of those seeking refuge in the country. “Nepal must not opt for extremist approaches in this regard and should not force them to leave the country. Moreover, it has to ensure fundamental rights on humanitarian grounds, issue them refugee identity cards to let them live a dignified life.”
A version of this article appears in the print on October 27, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.