1. Debt Bondage - the Kamaiya System

In the Kingdom of Nepal, slavery was officially outlawed 74 years ago, and the 1991 Constitution proclaims freedom from "slavery, serfdom, or forced labour in any form". Under the 1974 national code, debt bondage is an offence punishable by three to ten years of imprisonment. Additionally, Nepal has ratified various UN Conventions such as the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery.

In the Far-Western lowlands alone, however, a government survey found that there are over 46,000 men, women and children are working in debt bondage under the Kamaiya system of agriculture (Study Report on the Social and Economic Conditions of Kamaiya, 1995, His Majesty's Government of Nepal). Despite this fact and the legal provisions outlined above, no bonded labour owner has ever been prosecuted. This is a national disgrace to the concept of human rights and to the international conventions to which Nepal is a signatory. A recent and unprecedented case filed by nineteen bonded labourers against their landlord has opened an opportunity for the government and the international community of which it is a part to eradicate the system once and for all. Following government inaction on this case, we are appealing to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to urge His Majesty's Government of Nepal to fulfill the demands of the nineteen bonded laborers, as well as to implement and strengthen existing laws prohibiting debt bondage.

2. Kamaiya Facts and Statistics

The Kamaiya system of agricultural labour is an annually renewed patron-client relationship that is generally maintained through a system of loans and land contracts. The majority (98 per cent) of Kamaiya are Tharu, an ethnic group indigenous to the Southern lowland region called the terai. Until the 1960s, the Tharu were the primary inhabitants of the region, in large part due to the endemic malaria to which they had developed a natural immunity. A semi-successful malaria eradication program in the 1960s along with a 1963 land reform act which resettled hill people to the lowlands induced an important migration flow from the hills to the terai. As a result, many Tharus whose land was not legally registered were displaced and ended up working on the land that they once owned. The majority of Kamaiya are found in the southwestern most districts of Dang, Banke, Bardiya, Kailali, and Kanchanpur.

Low wages, caste discrimination, unequal access to resources and education, and unequal distribution of land force Kamaiya to take loans to satisfy their daily needs. The entire family is usually forced to work for the landlord ­ for little or no additional income ­ and food insufficiency ranges from 3 to 6 months per year. The debt is passed on from father to son, and many women marry into bondage, finding themselves trapped just as their husbands are. The following are additional facts regarding the system:

• According to a government survey, there are 25,000 Kamaiya (46,000 counting economically active family members) in the five districts of Dang, Banke, Bardiya, Kailali, and Kanchanpur. Other independent surveys have estimated the number to be much higher
  
• Kamaiya and their wives work up to 12-14 hours per day
• 53 per cent of Kamaiya have debts averaging Rs. 4880 (c. $US70)
• 59 per cent are landless;
• 70 per cent of Kamaiya are illiterate and only 10% of their children are attending school
• Women in a Kamaiya household are usually required to work for the landlord as well, and cases of sexual exploitation are not unusual
• Kamaiya also suffer physical and verbal abuse
• Most Kamaiya lack: freedom of mobility; control over and access to funds; independence; and choice over when and how they work.

3. The Geta case – the first case filed for freedom under the bonded labor law

Over the past ten years, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), activists, and various politicians have worked to bring the exploitative nature of the system to public and governmental attention. They have initiated a number of development activities (such as micro credit enterprises, literacy classes, and human rights awareness classes) with the Kamaiya. The different parties involved soon came to realise, however, that the endeavors were of limited use unless coupled with the political will to implement the existing legal provisions prohibiting the system.

On 1 May 2000, Kamaiya tried for the first time to challenge the legality of their bondage under Nepali law. Nineteen bonded Kamaiya in Geta Village District Committee (VDC) of Kailali district filed a case against their landlord, former Minister Shiva Raj Pantha. This case marks an important turning point in the history of Nepal's fledgling democracy. The Kamaiya are demanding;

• Freedom from debt bondage;
• Minimum wage (now officially Rs.60/day);
• Compensation for unpaid labour;
• Registration in their name of the land they are currently living on;
• Protection of Chief District Officer (CDO) against the landlord.

Due to the landlord's unwillingness to enter negotiations, the VDC Chairman was unable to address their demands. The Kamaiyas were thus compelled to go to the CDO, who initially refused to file their case. Following increasing pressure, a demonstration that shut down the district capital, and a sit-in at the district administration office, the CDO finally registered the case. The following day, however, he forwarded the case to the Ministry of Labour, who sent it back to the VDC. The sit in lasted two weeks ­ ending when land was allocated for the Kamaiyas' resettlement. The Kamaiyas are, however, still waiting for their other demands to be fulfilled, most importantly for a government statement of their freedom from bondage.

According to the Kamaiyas' statements, they and their wives work on average 12-14 hours per day, for which they receive 7.5 quintal (750 kg) of paddy per year each, an average wage of approximately Rs.13 (US$0.20) per day. On days they are not able to come to work, however, they are fined Rs.100. All the bonded labourers have debts, ranging from Rs.3,864 (US$57) to Rs.15,828 (US$233) in cash and from 1.3 to 7.71 tons of paddy. The following stories are just some examples of the verbal and physical abuse they suffered:

- T. Chaudhari recalls an incident where his son ­ who was eight or nine at the time ­ was herding cows: "As he was bringing them in, one of them lagged behind, and the landlord asked where it was. Although B.R. [his son] said it was coming, Shiva Raj Pantha [the landlord] started beating both of us so hard that our backs were severely bruised for weeks thereafter ­ making it difficult to work. Subsequently, Shiva Raj Pantha forced B.R. to look after the cows for no wages or food."

- P. Chaudhari tells of a time when she took a break from her work to breast-feed her young baby, and Shiva Raj Pantha told her to get back to work, complaining that: " You people don¹t work -- all you do is breast-feed. You have as much milk as a river." Another woman tells a tale of being beaten for breast-feeding her 2-week old baby.

- S. Chaudhari worked about 15 years at Shiva Raj Pantha¹s. One day, he asked her to cut wheat in the fields. She waited for a friend who was going with her, and was thus a little late in leaving. Shiva Raj Pantha went inside her house and started beating her so heavily she had difficulty walking for a month.

4. Recommendations For Action

We are requesting the Nepali government to:

• Implement its ban on debt bondage;
• Declare that all bonded labourers are free from debt;
• Punish by law all who keep bonded labour;
• Insure the implementation of the Minimum Wage Law, so that all agricultural labourers receive at least the minimum wage as per the national government policy (or the district policy, if it is higher); and
• Provide the landless bonded laborers with land for both housing and farming through the government's Squatters' Commission set up for that purpose.

We are requesting the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights to:

• Take this as an opportune moment to ensure that the universal rights of bonded laborers as free human beings are enforced; and
• Urge Nepal to abide by the conventions it has ratified, particularly the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery.

The Kamaiya Movement Working Committee

Chairperson: Dilli Chaudhari, BASE, Committee

Members

Backwards Society Education (BASE), Tulsipur, Dang
Center for Legal Research and Rural Development (CeLRRD), Kathmandu
Creation of Creative Society (CCS), Dhangadi, Kailali
Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC), Kathmandu
Group for International Solidarity (Grinso), Kathmandu
General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT), Kathmandu
Nepal National Deprived Society Welfare Organization (NNDSWO), Dhangadi
Dhangadi NGO Federation, Dhangadi, Mukti Parisad, Dhangadi
Human Rights Awareness and Social Development Centre (HURADS), Dhangadi
Manab Adhikar Sangrakchan Sangyukta Mancha, Dhangadi
TEKOFAT, Dhangadi
Nepal National Social Welfare Assoc, (NNSWA), Mahendranagar, Kanchanpur
Rural Reconstruction Nepal, Uttar Bhakhari, Bardiya
SPACE, Dhangadi