Kamlari Practice: Govt abolishes it, slavery continues

KATHMANDU, DEC 11 -
Despite the Cabinet proclamation of the abolition of the Kamlari practice in July, 376 young Tharu girls continue to work as Kamlaris (indentured girl child labourers) nationwide, 89 of whom are in service in the Capital.

Surprisingly, data released by the Freed Kamlari Development Forum (FKDF) on Tuesday revealed that 74 Kamlaris are serving public officials, while businesspersons have enslaved 77 of them in their households. Even teachers and political leaders are involved in the practice. Thirty-two teachers and two political leaders have Kamlaris toiling in their houses, the data reveals.

According to the FKDF, the figures may be higher as the organisation does not have the current employment positions of 97 Kamlari keepers. Phakala Tharu, a legal advisor of the FKDF, was reluctant to release the names of the Kamlari owners. He feared that the girls might disappear if he did so. Tharu, however, hinted that some of the employers are prominent figures who hold high positions in public service.

Equally disheartening was the fact that 192, more than half of the 376 Kamlaris , are below the age of 16. An equal number of Kamlaris receives no wages but educational support as remuneration, while 47 Kamlaris get paid less than Rs 5,000 a year for their services.

National laws such as the Human trafficking Control Act (1986), Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act (2000), and the Kamaiya Labour (Prohibition) Act (2001) prohibit the Kamlari practice. And yet, some of the 376 girls have been in service for the last 18 years and some as recently as in the last six months.

Under the Child Labour Act, those who hire young girls as Kamlaris are liable to face up to one year in jail and fine of Rs 50,000.

According to the FKDF, however, only 43 employers have so far been fined and none have been jailed, except for seven men on charges of rape.

Currently, there are 139 cases pending in courts and the Ministry of Labour.

Former Kamlaris and activists believe that lack of willpower from the government, especially from the law enforcers, to prosecute buyers of Tharu girls is helping the practice persist.

“Poverty and patriarchal thinking are other reasons, but the justice system is too weak to stop this blatant human trafficking,” said Tharu.

In recent times, the buying and selling of Tharu girls has gone down significantly, owing to an increase in awareness among Tharu communities.

Transactions, however, still take place in secrecy. Earlier, people used to openly survey Tharu villages for Kamlaris and pick girls up in ‘shiny cars’.

Now they use village middlemen to facilitate deals and girls are whisked away.

As former Kamlaris said, people these days fear being socially ostracised, but not the law.

With such legal impunity, a Kamlari movement began on May 28, forcing the government to sign a 10-point agreement with agitating Kamlaris on June 7, while it subsequently announced the abolishment of the practice.

Six months since the signing, however, only two demands have been met—formal abolition of the practice and provision of compensation to the families of Srijana Chaudhary and Megthi Chaudhary, two Kamlaris found dead at their employers’ houses.

Former Kamlaris are, therefore, back in the Capital, demanding full implementation of the agreement.

The former Kamlaris have been demanding that the government reports on the deaths, disappearances and pregnancies of Kamlaris be made public as soon as possible.

 They have also demanded that the Kamlari Education Guidelines be amended to increase the amount of scholarship, Kamlari ID cards be distributed to all former Kamlaris , and the former Kamlaris injured during the May movement be reimbursed for their medical treatment.

“If we don’t hear back from the government in the next few weeks, we will launch fresh protests,” said Sujata Chaudhary, Central Vice-chairperson of the FKDF.

In the meantime, the FKDF, in collaboration with another non-government organisation, Children-Women in Social Service and Human Rights (CWISH), and with support from the police, is launching a rescue mission of the 376 Kamlaris still in slavery. The mission begins on Wednesday.

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