The Organization pitches for the right to adequate housing in Nepal
Hetauda: Amnesty International Nepal today launched the 2025 edition of its worldwide Write for Rights campaign. As a part of this campaign, the organization is also urging Nepal’s authorities to take urgent action to protect the human rights of marginalized communities at risk of forced evictions in the country.
Write for Rights is Amnesty International’s annual global flagship campaign that has been running for over 20 years. Each year, the campaign highlights around 10 individuals or communities worldwide whose human rights are under threat, mobilizing people globally to write letters, sign petitions, and advocate for justice. The campaign seeks to unite people worldwide in defense of people’s dignity, rights, and equality.
This year, the global campaign highlights individuals on the frontlines of climate change and environmental destruction, defending their communities against droughts, gas flares, development projects, and pollution. Featured cases include an indigenous reindeer herder protecting her community’s land in Norway, a photojournalist imprisoned for reporting on a cyclone in Myanmar, and a young boy in South Africa who tragically lost his life after falling into a pit toilet at his pre-school. Despite geographical and situational differences, all these cases share a common thread: violations of fundamental human rights, and authorities’ failure to ensure redress.
In Nepal, Amnesty International Nepal is focusing on the right to adequate housing, particularly for marginalized and landless communities. The national campaign, titled “Aawas gumaunu adhikar gumaunu ho” (which translates to “Losing one’s home means losing one’s rights”), draws attention to the ongoing crisis of forced evictions affecting communities including Dalits, Indigenous Peoples, daily wage earners, and informal settlers.
Earlier this year, Amnesty Nepal also highlighted this issue in its report, “Nowhere to Go: Forced Evictions in Nepal”, which details the devastating impact of evictions on already marginalized populations. The report also exposes the failure of authorities to uphold legal safeguards guaranteed under the Constitution of Nepal, the Right to Housing Act, 2018 and international human rights instruments highlighting gaps in regulations meant to prevent forced evictions.
Despite the constitutional protections guaranteed to marginalized communities, many continue to live under constant fear of eviction, without due process or support to rebuild their lives
Nirajan Thapaliya, Amnesty International Nepal Director
“Despite the constitutional protections guaranteed to marginalized communities, many continue to live under constant fear of eviction, without due process or support to rebuild their lives,” said Nirajan Thapaliya, Director of Amnesty International Nepal. “The authorities must respect, protect and fulfil the rights of people including the landless and marginalized communities, and must refrain from acts that leave them exposed to multiple human rights violations.”
The report examines emblematic cases of forced evictions between 2020 and 2024 in districts including Kathmandu, Chitwan, and Kailali. These cases illustrate a range of eviction types, from development projects in urban areas to evictions in conservation areas, community forests, and national parks.
The campaign calls on Nepal’s Minister of Home Affairs, Om Prakash Aryal, to protect and fulfill the human rights, including the right to adequate housing, of all those affected or at risk of forced eviction.
Each year, the organization mobilizes its 6,000+ members and supporters across the country to gather tens of thousands of petitions in support of these human rights cases.