New Madhesi strike could have dire humanitarian impact

International humanitarian aid agencies have expressed concern about the political crisis and the humanitarian implications for vulnerable communities in the Terai region of southern Nepal.

They said access to food supplies, health and other humanitarian services has been limited since 12 February due to an indefinite strike called by the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) - a coalition of political parties campaigning for the rights of ethnic Madhesis in the Terai.

“If the crisis in the Terai goes on for another week, we will see a considerable impact on humanitarian programmes in terms of food security, the livelihoods of vulnerable communities and daily wage earners," Wendy Cue, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Nepal, told IRIN in Kathmandu.

Most markets have been closed in cities and towns across the Terai, Nepal’s lowland industrial and agricultural heartland. The government-imposed curfew is exacerbating the situation, hampering civilians’ access to public transport and markets, according to aid agencies.

Protests by pro-Madhesi groups in the Terai have been exacerbating political tensions also caused in part by the refusal of Maoist groups to abide by a November 2006 peace accord, according to analysts.

“Possibility of a humanitarian crisis”

“There is a possibility of a humanitarian crisis if there is no change in the situation,” said Sanjeev Kumar Kafley, director of the disaster management department of the Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS), which has been helping to evacuate and provide medical aid to people injured in the Madhesi protests.

He said the humanitarian challenges were growing as marginalised and impoverished civilians were being affected by the protests: “Many of the destitute and daily wage earners are unable to find the jobs on which they depend for survival,” said Kafley.

Aid workers targeted

A group of leading agencies and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) said on 21 February that the operational room for manoeuvre was shrinking. “At the moment, the operational space in the Terai has been very much affected as development activities cannot be carried out,” said a donor representative who preferred anonymity.

“The eastern Terai is especially looking very worrisome. All agencies are facing difficulties,” said Phillippe Clerc, country director of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), which is providing support to displaced people in Nepal.

Aid workers said the situation for them was becoming more challenging than during the decade-long armed conflict (1996-2006).

Even medical personnel and ambulances are being targeted and prevented from freely moving around by both protestors and security forces in the Terai, aid agencies said.

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), an ambulance carrying injured persons was vandalised in Mahottari District, some 130km south of Kathmandu. Medical workers had been assaulted and their medical kits seized.

However, Madhesi leaders deny they have placed any obstacles in the way of humanitarian work. Instead, they blamed government security forces for harassing aid workers.

Madhesi demands

The UDMF has said it will continue the strikes and demonstrations against the Nepalese government until its demands are met.

Most Madhesis - the dominant ethnic group in the Terai - continue to suffer from extreme poverty, high rates of illiteracy, unemployment and lack of citizenship due to past neglect of their plight and their exclusion from the development and political process.
 
The current campaign is designed to address the perceived wrongs of the past and improve the lives of the poor. Madhesi political groups have become increasingly successful over the past year or so in drawing attention to their plight, forcing political parties and the government to take note, according to independent analysts.

The UDMF has been demanding an autonomous region for the Madhesi people.

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