![[Nepal] Despite the ongoing ceasefire, peace talks and assurances from rebel leaders, most IDPs are reluctant to go home after suffering from a decade of conflict. [Date picture taken: 09/13/2006]](https://assets.thenewhumanitarian.org/s3fs-public/styles/responsive_large_2x/public/images/20069139.jpg.webp?itok=0UWqD1jU "Despite the ongoing ceasefire, peace talks and assurances from rebel leaders, most IDPs are reluctant to go home after suffering from a decade of conflict")
Baisali Buda and her four young children have spent the last four years in poverty as internally displaced people (IDPs) in Nepal’s remote western disctricts. Life has been so hard that Buda would have gladly swapped her existence for a chance to work in India for very low wages.
Such a choice has been the fate of hundreds of thousands of poor Nepalis fleeing the conflict between the government and rebels over the past decade.
“If I had money to travel to India for a job, we wouldn’t have to suffer from constant food shortages, especially my children who sleep with empty stomachs most nights,” Buda said.
The 26-year-old fled from their home in Mugu, a remote village in a hilly region that lies about 700 km west of the capital, Kathmandu. Mugu is the worst of the country’s 75 districts in terms of human development, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).
Living in a tiny shack at a government-run IDP camp at Rajhena village of Banke district, nearly 600 km west of Kathmandu, Buda’s family is desperate to return home but they still fear Maoist rebels, who seized her house, farm and livestock in 2002. The rebels threatened to kill her if she refused to support their armed rebellion, she said.
For the last 10 years, the Maoists have been waging their ‘People’s War’ against the Nepalese state. In April, the rebels called a mutual ceasefire after a new interim government of seven national parties was established following the end of absolute rule by the Nepalese monarch, King Gyanendra.
Peace talks to end the conflict, which has claimed the lives of over 14,000 people, were due to have resumed this week in the capital. By Wednesday talks had not resumed, reportedly due to a row over rumours that the interim government was importing arms into the capital.
According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), the leading international body on IDP issues, the war has led to the displacement of between 100,000 and 250,000 people.
Despite the end of armed hostilities and the ongoing peace process, most IDPs say they are not ready to go back to their homes because the Maoists have failed to guarantee their safety.
“How can I go home when I do not know what the rebels will do? They still have their weapons and do what they like in many areas they still control, Buda said.
The United Nations accepts that successful resolution of the IDP issue is essential to consolidate peace in the Himalayan kingdom.
“The fate of IDPs is one of the many outstanding issues of the peace negotiations between the interim government of Nepal and the Communist Party of Nepal [Maoist]. Granting those that had to flee their homes due to the conflict the opportunity to return safely and reintegrate socially and economically is key for a lasting peace,” said the latest report on IDPs status released this month by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
According to OCHA, most IDP families were displaced due to forced recruitment by the Maoists, fear of the security forces, extortion, closure of schools, disruption of local commerce and the collapse of basic services.
Although Maoist leaders in the capital and some key cities have agreed that IDPs return to their homes, rebel structures at village level have not made it easy for returning families, complained a large number of IDPs in west Nepal.
“The rebels who were responsible for our homeless state are the ones who have to come here and assure us of our security once we return to our villages,” said Prem Bahadur Shahi from Dailekh district, 450 km west of the capital. He explained that only a handful of people out of the hundreds of families in the region displaced due to the conflict have returned home.
“The local Maoists who have locked my house and seized my farm will kill me - that was always their main intention while I was in my village,” said 72-year-old Kesar Bahadur Shaha from Jajarkot, 400 km west of Kathmandu.
Shaha said he was targeted as he was a member of the Nepali Congress (NC) - the country’s largest political party - and had refused to join or support the Maoist rebellion.
A perspective supported by evidence from OCHA’s latest IDP report: “In many districts visited by OCHA since April 2006, CPN-Maoists and their supporters continue to control IDPs’ lands, many of them with cash crops, despite claims for property restitution by the returnees.”
But local Maoist leaders in west Nepal told IRIN that they were committed to the security and protection of IDPs and would return property.
“The main problem is that there is a lack of effective coordination between these [IDP] families and our party cadres on how they should be returned,” said Maoist leader Anil Chettri in Banke.
“But whatever has happened in the past should be forgotten, which is why we are willing to return their property and allow them to stay in their villages without causing any harm,” added Chettri.
Despite these assurances, some rebels want retribution. “There were some villagers who were involved in committing crimes against our supporters and besides, it is the local community who will decide how to take action against them before letting them into their homes,” said Sunil, a Maoist leader in Banke.
NN/SC/JL
Such a choice has been the fate of hundreds of thousands of poor Nepalis fleeing the conflict between the government and rebels over the past decade.
“If I had money to travel to India for a job, we wouldn’t have to suffer from constant food shortages, especially my children who sleep with empty stomachs most nights,” Buda said.
The 26-year-old fled from their home in Mugu, a remote village in a hilly region that lies about 700 km west of the capital, Kathmandu. Mugu is the worst of the country’s 75 districts in terms of human development, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).
Living in a tiny shack at a government-run IDP camp at Rajhena village of Banke district, nearly 600 km west of Kathmandu, Buda’s family is desperate to return home but they still fear Maoist rebels, who seized her house, farm and livestock in 2002. The rebels threatened to kill her if she refused to support their armed rebellion, she said.
For the last 10 years, the Maoists have been waging their ‘People’s War’ against the Nepalese state. In April, the rebels called a mutual ceasefire after a new interim government of seven national parties was established following the end of absolute rule by the Nepalese monarch, King Gyanendra.
Peace talks to end the conflict, which has claimed the lives of over 14,000 people, were due to have resumed this week in the capital. By Wednesday talks had not resumed, reportedly due to a row over rumours that the interim government was importing arms into the capital.
According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), the leading international body on IDP issues, the war has led to the displacement of between 100,000 and 250,000 people.
Despite the end of armed hostilities and the ongoing peace process, most IDPs say they are not ready to go back to their homes because the Maoists have failed to guarantee their safety.
“How can I go home when I do not know what the rebels will do? They still have their weapons and do what they like in many areas they still control, Buda said.
The United Nations accepts that successful resolution of the IDP issue is essential to consolidate peace in the Himalayan kingdom.
“The fate of IDPs is one of the many outstanding issues of the peace negotiations between the interim government of Nepal and the Communist Party of Nepal [Maoist]. Granting those that had to flee their homes due to the conflict the opportunity to return safely and reintegrate socially and economically is key for a lasting peace,” said the latest report on IDPs status released this month by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
According to OCHA, most IDP families were displaced due to forced recruitment by the Maoists, fear of the security forces, extortion, closure of schools, disruption of local commerce and the collapse of basic services.
Although Maoist leaders in the capital and some key cities have agreed that IDPs return to their homes, rebel structures at village level have not made it easy for returning families, complained a large number of IDPs in west Nepal.
“The rebels who were responsible for our homeless state are the ones who have to come here and assure us of our security once we return to our villages,” said Prem Bahadur Shahi from Dailekh district, 450 km west of the capital. He explained that only a handful of people out of the hundreds of families in the region displaced due to the conflict have returned home.
“The local Maoists who have locked my house and seized my farm will kill me - that was always their main intention while I was in my village,” said 72-year-old Kesar Bahadur Shaha from Jajarkot, 400 km west of Kathmandu.
Shaha said he was targeted as he was a member of the Nepali Congress (NC) - the country’s largest political party - and had refused to join or support the Maoist rebellion.
A perspective supported by evidence from OCHA’s latest IDP report: “In many districts visited by OCHA since April 2006, CPN-Maoists and their supporters continue to control IDPs’ lands, many of them with cash crops, despite claims for property restitution by the returnees.”
But local Maoist leaders in west Nepal told IRIN that they were committed to the security and protection of IDPs and would return property.
“The main problem is that there is a lack of effective coordination between these [IDP] families and our party cadres on how they should be returned,” said Maoist leader Anil Chettri in Banke.
“But whatever has happened in the past should be forgotten, which is why we are willing to return their property and allow them to stay in their villages without causing any harm,” added Chettri.
Despite these assurances, some rebels want retribution. “There were some villagers who were involved in committing crimes against our supporters and besides, it is the local community who will decide how to take action against them before letting them into their homes,” said Sunil, a Maoist leader in Banke.
NN/SC/JL
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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