The Politics of Defining Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Nepal: Revisiting Facts, Figures and National Policies

The armed conflict between Maoist insurgents and government security forces (1996-2006) has resulted in the internal displacement of many of Nepal's citizens, most particularly those from remote districts, and many still remain displaced today. The qualitative methodology adopted, using the ethnographic approach to conduct this research involves informal discussion, participant observation, focus group discussion and in depth interviews. This paper argues that thousands of people have been displaced from rural areas to urban cities in Nepal and India due to the military activities of both the "Maoist" rebels and the government security forces, and the more general affects of war after the declaration of a state of emergency in 2001. The paper addresses the lack of consensus as to the definition of Internally Displaced People (IDPs), estimates of their number (with estimates ranging from 25,000 to 500,000), how their needs should be addressed, and who should be responsible for addressing them? It is argued that the commitments of the government in terms of internal displacement have not yet materialized into effective implementation. This paper reveals that there is a sizable gap as to what the national policy says and what is implemented on the ground. This paper then concludes that introducing a national policy alone is not enough to ensure the protection of IDPs and in ending displacement, it is necessary to implement the policy and monitor whether this policy provisions are producing results. This paper finally examines national policy initiatives, the national response and implementation gap in the process of addressing the issues of IDPs in Nepal.