INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS
Learning Entrepreneur Skills

Suffering from a long saga of painful stories and experiences regarding their own physical and psychological trauma, the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) – who survived in subsistence farming for centuries - have also some good reason to rejoice as they have started learning new entrepreneurship skills that can transform their life in short period of time. Facing all sorts of difficulties along with psychological and human trauma, the new entrepreneurship skills acquired by them in recent years have started making IDPs self-reliant. At a time when the IDPs caused by Tsunami in other Asian countries are getting international support, the stories of more than two million conflict-induced IDPs in Nepal are yet to make international headlines. If the government can provide a certain amount of seed money through banks, financial institutions or cooperatives, these IDPs will create more employment for themselves. Nothing will recompense the psychological trauma they have suffered but by giving them opportunity to create self-employment, it may reduce their burden. In case of return of peace and normalcy in the country and process of reintegration, these income-generating skills are going to be the best asset for economic progress in future

By KESHAB POUDEL

The life of Dhanbir Budha - a resident of Chaurja hari village of Rukum district who fled the house with his family four years ago – has transformed completely. He has transformed from merely being a subsistence farmer to a small entrepreneur in Nepalgunj, 500 kilometer west of capital Kathmandu.

Dhanbir, 49, father of four children, now sells vegetables in Nepalgunj making money to feed his family members and sending his children to school. Tired of roaming the government offices explaining his tragic stories and seeking employment for months, Dhanbir finally started his own small business investing Rs.1500 (US$ 20) by bringing vegetables to the city. “Of course, this is completely a new practice in my life as I was a farmer back home with little knowledge about trade and business. My instinct for survival pushed me into this business. If everything is normal, I make about Rs.200 (US$ 3) a day. This money is sufficient to survive.”

Maili Khadka, a resident of Dolakha district, 150 kilometers east of capital, has a small mobile shop selling cigarette, baked corn and beans in a corner of Chabahil, Kathmandu. Khadka, 35, was displaced following the death of her husband in crossfire a year ago. Mother of two sons and a daughter, Khadka makes Rs.200 (US$ 3) in an average a day. Like Dhanbir, Khadka, an illiterate woman, too, did not imagine in her early life that she would have to go through these kinds of things.

“Because we were farmers we did not have to buy anything as we produced everything we needed. Little surplus food stuffs were used to pay for hired laborers in the field. After the family tragedy, I migrated to the city. When I did not find any job other than as a part time cleaner, I decided to do this business - which is helping me to sustain my family retaining my pride. My sons and daughter are attending the government school." Living in nearby rented house, Khadka sees this is a perfect way for self-reliance.

Budha and Khadka are not alone surviving on new entrepreneurial skills. There are many other IDPs living in major cities like Nepalgunj, Butwal, Pokhara, Mahendranagar in the west; Biratnagar, Jhapa, Dharan, Iathari in the east; and Kathmandu, Birgunj, Narayanghat and Janakpur in the center, who are in the small business now.

Along with major cities, many other IDPs living in the district headquarters have to search the employment for themselves. From political workers, teachers to families of Royal Nepalese Army, Indian Army, Nepal Police and other common people, there are different kinds of IDPs in search of work.

At a time when the government does not have any policy on IDPs, most of IDPs are living on their own. Some live working as daily wage laborers and others depend on their relatives. Families of Indian army, Nepalese Army and Nepal Police live under salary sent by their beloved. There are some people who don’t have anything to live on. Those who have acquired the entrepreneur skills are lucky enough to have better life.

As soon as people move from their native and land in new place, their immediate priority will be to search for a job to sustain their families. Since there are no mechanisms for their registration and identification, these IDPs have to search the employment for themselves.

As population in district headquarters increase, the demands of various goods including consumer items, food stuffs, vegetables etc also increase. Furthermore, triggered by the number of population migrating to district headquarters for safety reason, there has been a construction boom and high demand of laborers.

As such, the IDPs with some sort of entrepreneur skill have become luckier in getting jobs. “This skill will benefit now and later when we return to our villages,” said Khadka. “If I am allowed to live back in my village, I will grow vegetables and fruits to sell them in the urban areas. I know the trade tricks now.”

Having survived on subsistence-based agriculture, the rural people in Nepal know little about entrepreneur skills and trade transactions. The people don’t have any knowledge on market, demand and supply mechanism and so on since rural people mostly grow food only to sustain their families.

According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Country Strategy and Program Nepal 2005-2009, the estimated number of people displaced by the conflict varies. A study conducted in 53 districts reported that some 402,100 landowning families were displaced, affecting nearly 2.4 million people. The report, which is based on the report of Center for Economic and Social Development 2003, Developing Conflict Solution Strategies, reveals that there was a substantial decline in the annual income for the displaced persons in the areas under study. In the eastern region, average annual income per family was Rs.45, 875 before the displacement and Rs. 28,610 after the displacement.

In the central region, which includes capital, there is nominal effect on the income comparative to far-west and mid-western region. The annual income of Central region before the displacement was Rs 35,530 and Rs 32,428 afterwards. Similarly, it was Rs.32, 456 before displacement and 14,606 after the displacement in mid-western region - which is most hit by the conflict.

The self-employment skills learnt by IDPs are remarkable as it is the creation of their own. “The majority of IDPs have tried to support themselves through their own means or with the help of their extended families; these coping mechanisms appear to be near exhaustion. The state and local and national organizations have made available some emergency assistance, however, it has reached only a very small number of IDPs and even state officials agreed that the assistance on offer is grossly insufficient,’’ said professor Walter Kalin, special representative of the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons. Kalin recently traveled to Kapilvastu, Banke and Dailekh districts in western Nepal and Morang district in eastern Nepal to assess the situation of IDPs.

Entrepreneur Skills

From main center of capital Kathmandu to other areas of Nepal’s major cities, one can see these new classes of emerging group of entrepreneurs creating jobs for themselves and competing with other traditional market forces. Along with vegetables vendors, mobile shops, shoe maintenance and small tailoring shops, IDPs are busy exploring new market opportunities.

Women in a training : Rehabilitaing measure

Cash strapped and homeless, the stories of their early days of displacement is tragic and heart-rending. Unknown about urban life, some IDPs were even trapped in prostitution. Some young girls and widows of the insurgency who migrated to the cities are working as dancers in disco and cabin restaurants in the city where many of them are subjected to physical and mental exploitation.

The story of Gorkhe Damai, who migrated from Kalikot, 450 kilometers north-west of capital, is also not different. Following his displacement five years ago, Damai, 56, father of six children, used to run a tailor shop in Chisapani of Kailali district. His small hut was damaged in cross firing between security forces and Maoists in December last year and his wife - who is now under treatment at Bir Hospital in Kathmandu - is struggling for survival.

“How long can I remain idle like this. Till now Nepal Maoist Victim Association is supporting me to treat my wife. I am now in no position to return home, I need certain amount of money so that I can start small work on my won. What I need now is just a small sewing machine,” said Damai, whose two young sons are still at large. “I don’t want to live as a burden to the state.”

Under the banner of Nepal Maoist Victims Association (NMVA), more than 300 Maoist victims have been living in the open theater occupying the public land in the capital. “We don’t have any place to go so government must provide us some sort of compensation so that we can move for permanent place,” said Damai, a person belonging to Dalit community - so-called untouchable caste - of the far west.

Hari Prasad Gautam- who left his house in Lakhanpur village of Ramechap district, 100 miles east of capital seven years ago, is uncertain whether he will ever return to his home and unite with his family. Gautam, 58, who was severely beaten by the Maoists – was rescued from his village by Royal Nepalese Army helicopter.

“Maoists cut different parts of my body before throwing me nearby my house for dead,” said Gautam showing gruesome scars of wounds in his body. “Since I cannot go to house and I am not in a position to work, the government must provide me long term compensation,” said Gautam.

Sarada Regmi of Kerwani Village Development Committee of Rupandehi, 300 kilometer west of capital, never imagined that she would have to live in a refugee camp one day. “We were quite a happy family with about one bigha of land and a small grocery shop." Her luck ran out after Maoist cut the legs of her husband at several places. "I have already spent more than Rs. 500, 000 but he is yet to recover,” said Regmi. “If the government cannot offer full compensation, they should bear at least half the amount of the treatment.”

Creating the employment in informal sector is not new in Nepal as it remains a major source of self-employment. The conflict has widened its scope employing more IDPs.

Published by the United Nations, Nepal Human Development Report 2004 reveals that employment opportunities have been confined largely to the informal sector – low paid, low-skilled and lacking any social security system. Self-employment still accounts more than 67 percent of livelihoods and of the total self-employed population, 78 percent work in agriculture. Around 73.3 percent of the non-agricultural sector labor force works in the informal sector. According to the report, together with agricultural activities, largely unorganized and self-employment in nature, informal sector employment has surged as high as 93.6 percent.

Human Tragedy

Despite the visible human tragedy inviting the unmanageable catastrophic, the government is yet to announce new programs for the IDPs. Although the problem of IDPs is more than a decade old, the government is yet to announce any kind of program for them. Till a few years back, Home Ministry used to provide a nominal amount of money to the Maoist victims but it has now been stopped. There are about 8000 IDPs under the government estimates. But, other agencies reported that the number is much higher than the estimate. According to the United Nations, the number is estimated at up to 2 million. Just a few days ago, Professor Kalin who traveled around the country gave this figure report to the media.

“We are in the process of announcing new programs for IDPs,” said a senior official of National Planning Commission. "Our program will encourage IDPs to start self reliant employment opportunity,” said Dr. Shankar Sharma, vice-chairman of National Planning Commission.

Based on the information collected during his visit, Kalin's mission has found that there is a widespread pattern of conflict-induced displacement in Nepal. As indicated to him by state authorities and non-governmental actors, the numbers of IDPs in the country are far greater than the estimate of the government. “A large majority of IDPs have not been registered by the authorities because of several factors, including a restrictive registration process, a general fear of IDPs to declare themselves and the movement of many conflict-induced displaced persons across the border into India,” said Kalin.

Who Are IDPs?

For the last one decade, only a few organizations have shown any interest to know who the IDPs are and how they are living.

Being a country with the history of frequent natural disasters, floods and landslides that frequently displace a large number of people but get rehabilitated as soon as weather normalized.

Displaced Households : What crime did we commit ?

The recent human made problem of displacement has different nature as people left their homeland because of threat of extortion and life. “The main causes of this population displacement are acts of violence or threats, against the population, practices of forced recruitment and extortion by the Maoist armed group, fear of reprisals by the Royal Nepal Army for allegedly providing food or shelter to Maoists and a generalized climate of insecurity,” said professor Kalin.

According to the United Nations, IDPs reside within the borders of their own countries and are under jurisdiction of their governments, primary responsibility for meeting their protection and assistance needs rests with their national authorities.

Twelve key steps for governments to take towards fulfilling national responsibility for internal displacement are identified. Prevent displacement and Minimize its adverse effects, raise national awareness of the problem, collect data on the number and conditions of IDPs, support training on the rights of IDPs, create a legal framework for upholding the rights of IDPs, develop a national policy on internal displacement, designate an institutional focal point on IDPs, encourage national human rights institutions to integrate internal displacement into their work, ensure the participation of IDPs in decision making, support durable solutions, allocate adequate resources to the problem, cooperate with the international community when national capacity is insufficient.

According to the UN, in case of internal armed conflict, non-state armed actors, who in many cases exert effective control over territory where displaced populations are located, also have a responsibility to ensure the protection and assistance of the internally displaced.

ADB’s report also reveals that 43 percent of those displaced were so because they faced a threat of death, 31 percent because of excessive extortion demands, 5 percent because their house had been looted and burned, 3 percent because their land had been confiscated by the CPN/Maoist and the rest because they had a relative in the security force or police, or because of their political affiliation.

There have been large direct impacts on the livelihood of millions of people in rural areas. The killing, extortion, confiscation, forced recruitment of children to fight in the insurgency, and infrastructure destruction have created fear and caused migration, and contributed to a decline in living standards.

Disruptions of agricultural activities and markets, migration and displacement of productive workers have undermined food security particularly in parts of western Nepal. Adverse impacts will affect development in the future – over 3,000 school teachers have been displaced and over 700 private schools have been closed since 1996.

The ADB draws the conclusion that while the conflict poses challenges; it also presents important opportunities to address the long-standing structural constraints to the poverty reduction and socio-economic development. Early engagement can ease the conflict burden on the displaced and others who are suffering from the frightening.

In the past couple of years of violent conflict, there have been tragic increase in conflict-induced IDPs. But the growing entrepreneurial skill demonstrated by some IDPs indicate that imparting income-generating skills in an institutionalized manner can help them become self-employed. These skilled people will turn out to be the engine of economic growth once the peace returns in future.