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Freed bonded labourers are marching on Nepal's parliament in the
capital Kathmandu on Sunday 2 February. The large demonstration,
organised by local organisation BASE (Backward Society Education),
is made up of bonded labourers from the country's Far Western District
in the capital to draw attention to the plight of kamaiya*.
Thousands of former bonded labourers have been left without sufficient
housing or land and as a result, to date 46 kamaiya -- children
and elderly -- have died from the cold and malnutrition, BASE said.
In February 2002, after years of pressure from UK-based Anti-Slavery
International, the world's oldest international human rights organisation,
and other international and local organisations, including BASE,
the Government finally outlawed the use of kamaiya bonded
labour. Under the law the Government is responsible for managing
housing, employment and income-generating activities.
"The Government must implement the law if bonded labourers'
freedom is to have any meaning. They are exposed to cold and disease,
it is the Government's responsibility to ensure the kamaiya's
rights are protected," Anti-Slavery International Director
Mary Cunneen said.
Registration and being issued with ID cards are crucial to the
former bonded labourers being able to benefit from the law -- most,
according to BASE, have not received this.
The demonstrators are making seven demands on the Nepal Government,
BASE's founder and director Dilli Chaudhary said. The Government
is being given 15 days to provide all freed kamaiya bonded
labourers with the following:
• ID cards
• 10 katha (0.04 hectares) of
land
• Wood for building houses
• Equal access to government services
• Minimum wage
• An end to government harassment
• Protection and security
If the Government fails to fulfil the demands, BASE said, the kamaiya
will seize government-owned land in the Far Western District, which
is currently not being used.
Since mid-January, thousands of bonded labourers have been demonstrating
throughout the Western District of Nepal demanding government action.
BASE, which was awarded with the 2002 Anti-Slavery Award for its
work against bonded labour, estimates 60 per cent of kamaiya
remain unregistered, without land and support and face malnutrition
and death [an estimated 70,000 to 100,000 people were in bonded
labour].
*Agricultural labourers from the Tharu ethnic community
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