Nepal conflict displaces tens of thousands: UN

King Gyanendra (L) of Nepal meets with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the Asia-Africa Summit in Jakarta Saturday. World powers, apart from China and Pakistan which have called the upheaval in Nepal an internal matter, have largely cold-shouldered Gyanendra since his takeover on February 1, demanding a restoration of democracy. PHOTO: AFP

"There's no systematic assistance or protection given to these displaced populations either by authorities in Nepal or by international organisations," said Dennis McNamara, special advisor on internal displacement to the UN emergency relief coordinator.

"Any assistance they get is ad hoc and it's quite inadequate," he said, citing an estimate of between 100,000 and 200,000 people displaced.

Other outside groups estimate that as many as two million Nepalese may have crossed the border into neighbouring India, said McNamara, while declining to endorse those larger numbers.

"These are major displacements -- conflict-related, either directly or indirectly -- but very much intertwined with the populations of one of the most impoverished countries in the world," he said.

Conflict has been raging since 1996, mainly in the kingdom's countryside, where army forces are tying to crush a Maoist revolt aimed at installing a communist republic. More than 11,000 have died in the fighting.

McNamara said young men are fleeing conscription in their villages and that civilians are often caught between the two sides.

"In some areas, 60 to 80 percent of the villages have lost their populations recently," he said.

Speaking in Kathmandu earlier, a UN rights expert blamed the displacements on violence and forced recruitment by the Maoists, fear of reprisals by the army for allegedly aiding the rebels and a "generalised climate of insecurity."

McNamara's trip followed last week's signing of an accord between the Geneva-based UN human rights office and Nepal to set up a monitoring operation to prevent human rights abuses in the conflict.

International concern over abuses has been mounting since King Gyanendra dismissed the government and imposed emergency rule on February 1, saying the move was necessary to tackle the revolt.

Meanwhile, Nepal's King Gyanendra yesterday sought backing for his controversial power grab in his first formal talks with India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh since the monarch declared emergency rule in February.

Gyanendra met with Singh on the sidelines of an Asia-Africa summit in Jakarta, officials confirmed, with the two neighbours reportedly focusing on the recent political upheaval in the Himalayan kingdom.

The meeting came a day after Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh pushed for a restoration of democracy in Nepal in a meeting with Gynanendra.

During their "cordial" 45-minute meeting, Gyanendra "explained the circumstances" that led him to dismiss the four-party coalition government, while the Indian foreign minister expressed hopes of renewed ties with Nepal.