Interview with Dennis McNamara, UN internal displacement special adviser

Dennis McNamara, Special Adviser to the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator on Internal Displacement, is on a seven-day visit with other UN officials to Nepal to assess the situation of internal displacement in the country and to enhance national and international protection of those forced to leave their homes due to the ongoing Maoist insurgency and widespread poverty in the Himalayan kingdom. He spoke to IRIN in the capital Kathmandu, on Monday. QUESTION: How big is the problem of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Nepal? ANSWER: There is poverty displacement, traditional migration to India and the war. And it’s very difficult to describe who is being displaced by conflict. It is unlike the refugees who are registered in camps. What we will try to do is to get the best general assessment. We are not going to register case by case. We are not going to single out a group. But we will try to address all the needs. Q: But does your visit at this time imply that the plight of IDPs is becoming serious in Nepal? A: There is a situation of serious humanitarian concern but it is not a crisis like Dafur [the humanitarian crisis in western Sudan]. Maybe if we do more now we can prevent it from becoming bigger. To do this, you should try to look where they [IDPs] come from, could they go back, is there something we could we do? Anything for example with our aid programmes, so that others won’t leave their homes. Can we persuade the military forces from both sides to be more careful to protect civilians so that don’t have to flee? Q: You have met government authorities and the army while in Nepal. What suggestions have you made to try to enhance IDP protection? A: What I have suggested to the military is to have a protection of civilians workshop for a couple of days. Both the government and the Maoists say that they respect international humanitarian law. Let’s see how it works out in practice. That is a test of statements made in the press. Can we do a national educational programme like the one by UNICEF [the United Nations Children’s Fund) throughout the country? Will both sides let that happen? Can we protect both children and women, the orphans? Is anyone doing anything about women being sexually abused? All these big issues should be addressed. Q: So what do you hope your visit has achieved? A: We will make proposals and recommendations for action by government, humanitarian UN agencies and international NGOs and by the donors. Everyone we met said education is the main problem, including for displaced children. Children in the camps have not been to school for six months. The government should do more to provide education to those children. The agencies can help but it is government’s responsibility. There should be an investigation into the situation in Kapilbastu [a region 200 km west of Kathmandu] about the burning of 600 houses and 50 people killed. The government should have taken action on who will do the investigation, what action will be taken? If you have democracy and rule of law that should be looked into. UN agencies have to look into these humanitarian issues in a more focused way. It is not a development problem but a serious humanitarian and protection concern, a human rights monitoring and child protection concern. UNHCR [the UN refugee agency] and NGOs can play a role. As for the donor countries, we will say if you want to help sort out this problem then you must fund and support the UN human rights monitors, the OCHA [Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs] office, programmes for women and children and give support to people who are displaced. That is what we would recommend. Q: How serious is the wider humanitarian situation in Nepal right now? A: It is a very serious humanitarian issue for the UN. It is very serious protection issue. Protection is always a major concern for civilians caught up in the civil war. Sexual violence and lack of education are all concerns which we think should be systematically addressed. The humanitarian response is important and central and we will try to increase from the UN side improved structure and strategies, fill the gaps but will also persuade the authorities to do more for the citizens in terms of providing basic services and protection, but it should not become a political substitute, it is humanitarian. There is a need for intensified support for peace. The UN Emergency Coordinator [Jan Egeland] is very concerned about Nepal and was anxious to see what can be done to address the humanitarians concerns here. I will also talk in New York in the department of political affairs of the UN to those who are actively engaged in monitoring the situation [in Nepal] and see whether we can bring an effective humanitarian response. Q: Will last week’s decision by the government to allow UN human rights monitors into the country help, do you think? A: The agreement between the UN and government last week was groundbreaking for the UN and hopefully it was equally important for the government. This was a crucial agreement for peacekeeping. Everyone welcomed this step, the army and everyone we talked to. They sounded pretty unanimous that this was important and valuable. The displaced population from conflict and abuse globally is two to three times the size of the refugee [population]. There are about 25 million displaced by conflict, violence and abuse and about 9-10 million of recognised refugees. It is a huge problem but there is no dedicated UN programme, [although] there are hints of agencies coming together. But as they are displaced within their countries, the first responsibility rests with the host authorities, the government of Nepal in this case.