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NEPAL PRIME MINISTER PROMISES
ANTI-SLAVERY
BONDED LABOUR LEGISLATION
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Nepal Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai
has told a high-level delegation from Anti-Slavery International that
the Government will sponsor a Bill to abolish bonded labour and that
it will appoint a Commission to draft and carry it forward.
The Prime Minister says the Commission will be required to submit
the Bill within two-and-a-half months and that he gives it his personal
support.
The Earl of Sandwich, a member of the British-Nepalese Parliamentary
Group, and slavery expert Dr Kevin Bales were in Nepal from 4 8
January 2000 to meet key political representatives and prominent opinion
makers to pressure for legislation to end this form of slavery. They
were accompanied by Indiašs prominent anti-slavery activist, Swami
Agnivesh, and head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, IA
Rehman. The visit was jointly organised with Nepalšs foremost human
rights organisation, the Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC).
Strong support for eliminating bonded labour was also given by Leader
of the Opposition Madhav Kumar Nepal. He pledged that the Communist
Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) would be committed to the
liberation and rehabilitation of bonded labourers. At a regional party
conference he stated that any party member or worker found to have
bonded labourers would be expelled from the party.
Bonded labour (also called debt bondage) is the most common form of
slavery in South Asia. People become bonded labourers when they take
or are tricked into taking loans as small as Ŗ10 (US$15) to pay
for such fundamental means of survival as food to eat, medicine for
a sick child, and for social obligations the costs of a wedding
or a funeral. To repay the debt, they are forced to work long hours,
seven days a week, 365 days a year. They receive basic food and shelter
as "payment", but may never pay off the loan, which can be passed
down through several generations.
Even though bonded labour is prohibited under Nepalšs 1990 Constitution,
the absence of legislation has made this ineffectual. Lacking a definition
of bonded labour relevant to Nepalšs situation and a mechanism for
authorising and claiming compensation for bonded labourers are key
reasons for the continuation of this practice.
The Government of Nepal, though acknowledging bonded labouršs existence,
has maintained that it is confined to the Far Western Region, affecting
8,000 ethnic Tharu families. But the problem is far more widespread.
Research studies have shown that bonded labour occurs among "untouchable"
(dalit) agricultural labourers throughout the country. According
to the United States Department of State there are an estimated 100,000
bonded labourers in southern Nepal alone.
Having ratified the 1926 Slavery Convention and the 1956 United Nations
Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade,
and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery, Nepal has an international
obligation to ensure that slavery is abolished.
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Notes to the editors:
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- For further information or to arrange interviews with the
returned delegates please contact Beth Herzfeld, Anti-Slavery
Press Officer on:
Tel: 020 7501 8934
Fax: 020 7738 4110
E-mail: b.herzfeld@antislavery.org
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| 12 January 2000 |
PR/1/00 |
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