We, the undersigned human rights defenders, strongly condemn the Government of Nepal’s unlawful, inhuman, and treacherous act of forced evictions of landless people and those living in informal settlements across Kathmandu Valley and other locations in Nepal. We also call on the concerned authorities at all three spheres of government to immediately stop the ongoing evictions and threats of eviction across the country, fully comply with the interim order issued by the Supreme Court on 8 May 2026, and ensure dignified, rights-based resettlement for all displaced families and individuals.
Since 25 April 2026, authorities have carried out forced evictions on settlements along the Bagmati river and its tributaries, deploying thousands of armed personnel of the Nepal Police, the Armed Police Force, and the Kathmandu Metropolitan Police. The operation, which began in Thapathali, Sinamangal, Gairigaun, and Shantinagar, has since expanded to Manohara, Teku, Balkhu, Bansighat, Sankhamul, Balaju, Kapan, and several other settlements across the Kathmandu Valley.
A month after the forced eviction drive began, thousands of displaced families continue to live in temporary holding centers, hotels, and makeshift shelters with almost no safety, security, privacy guarantees or any clear pathway to resettlement. According to the information presented by authorities to the Supreme Court, an estimated 15,000 people have been forcibly displaced, many reportedly receiving only an arbitrary 24-hour notice through public announcements (miking) before their homes were demolished by bulldozers, without allowing the settlers to save their belongings, necessities, or basic amenities, and without consideration for the needs of vulnerable family members.
The binding due process requirements clearly stipulated under Section 5 of the Right to Housing Act, 2018, point No. 91 of the Government’s 100-point Plan of Action, through which the Government committed to completing the verification process within 60 days and resolving the problems of landless squatters and unmanaged dwellers within 1,000 days, as well as previous judicial orders issued by the Supreme Court and Patan High Court requiring proper verification and a resettlement plan prior to evictions, were completely breached. There was no predictability or transparency regarding the decisions, urgency, or plans to carry out these harsh evictions in an emergency war-footing manner.
Despite a Supreme Court interim order issued on 8 May requiring due process and protection of basic rights, including arrangement of alternative housing, authorities have continued their forced eviction drives, including outside Kathmandu valley. This constitutes not only a gross violation of human rights but a blatant disregard and contempt of the Supreme Court ruling, thereby raising serious concerns about respect for the rule of law.
In addition, the government’s decision to provide short-term cash assistance of NPR 15,000 per month for three months, along with a one-time NPR 25,000 payment “to manage their own accommodation” is not only ridiculous but reprehensible. The amount offered cannot substitute proper rehousing plans and adequately fulfil the affected family’s housing needs, nor will it repair multiple harm they suffered, including the loss of homes, livelihoods, education, and community support systems.
Conditions in holding centers also remain alarming, with overcrowding, inadequate sanitation, lack of privacy, insufficient hygiene supplies, and limited psychosocial support. Children remain out of school even after a month of displacement, while families live under constant uncertainty and distress.
In the aftermath of the ongoing bulldozer terror and devastation, two settlers belonging to marginalized Indigenous communities reportedly committed suicide following severe psychological and emotional distress caused by the demolition of their homes in front of them. A woman in Saptari district is also reported to have passed away following the bulldozing of her residence. We express our deepest serious concerns for lack of credible investigations surrounding these deaths by the authorities. The authorities, whose acts have rendered people to such extreme desperation, must be held to account.
The forced evictions violate Nepal’s Constitution, Supreme Court rulings, and international human rights obligations, including the right to adequate housing under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The crisis reflects long-standing structural discrimination affecting Dalit communities, Indigenous peoples, women, and other marginalised groups. We also underscore the fact that forced displacement resulting in the deprivation of means of livelihood constitutes an offence punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment and a fine of NPR 500,000 under Sections 40 and 42 of the Right to Food and Food Sovereignty Act. It is likely that this offence has been committed on a massive scale by depriving displaced families of their life-sustaining means and survival strategies.
The government cannot render thousands of people homeless without an alternative arrangement with no protection or remedy. Housing is a basic human right, not a privilege or commodity.
We herewith strongly call for the government to:
- Immediately halt all ongoing and planned demolitions of informal settlements until a viable alternative housing is secured in advance, in compliance with the Supreme Court’s ruling and Article 37 of the Constitution, the Right to Adequate Housing Act, 2018 and the Land Act (7th and 8th Amendments) that provide for verification and management of “landless squatters” and “unmanaged dwellers”.
- Immediately undertake credible investigations into the deaths linked to the evictions and acknowledge institutional failure for the harm done to all the distressed families and individuals;
- Ensure criminal accountability for those responsible for committing the “crime of forced displacement causing deprivation of means of livelihoods” under the Right to Food and Food Sovereignty Act, 2075 (2018).
- Develop and immediately make public a formal, verified, binding, and publicly communicated resettlement plan, with specific sites, confirmed timelines, eligibility criteria, and an independent appeals process.
- Immediately provide at all holding centers: health and hygiene supplies, personal care items, differentiated nutrition for those facing health problems, senior citizens, infants/children, pregnant, postpartum, and lactating women, private spaces for women and families, freedom of movement, removal of CCTV from sleeping areas, and dedicated psychosocial counselling services.
- Women must be registered as independent primary rights-holders in any land distribution or resettlement scheme — not as wives or daughters of male beneficiaries. Joint ownership must be the minimum standard.
- Dalit communities must receive targeted, rights-compliant, and independently verified access to the constitutional entitlement under Article 40 — now over four years overdue.
- Immediately constitute a high-powered Land Commission with a legally binding mandate and timeline, an explicit gender requirement for land registration in women’s names, Dalit and indigenous community representation within the commission, civil society oversight, and judicial accountability for non-completion.
- Compensate the victims of the forced eviction for material, economic and psychosocial losses caused to them due to the evictions.
- NHRC and a high-level commission of inquiry, which can be created under the Commission of Inquiry Act, to conduct an independent inquiry into the planning and execution of the April–May 2026 forced eviction operations, with findings made public, and officials held accountable for the human rights violations.
- Extend an official invitation to the UN Special Rapporteur on Right to Adequate Housing for an official country visit and engage formally with the pending communications submitted by civil society organisations under Special Procedures.
Signed by:
- Aawalaya Nepal
- Accountability Watch Committee
- Advocacy Forum Nepal
- Amnesty International Nepal
- Community Self Reliance Centre
- Feminist Dalit Organization
- Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC)
- JuRI Nepal
- Human Rights and Justice Centre (HRJC)
- National Land Rights Forum
- Nepal Mahila Ekata Samaj
- Nepal Basobas
- Women’s Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC)
- Abhishek Tiwari
- Akansha Bhandari
- Anupama Pokharel
- Arun Singh Nepali
- Ashmita Sapkota
- Barsha Sah
- Bhagawati Adhikari
- Bikash Basnet
- Bina Buddhacharya
- Charan Prasai
- Dikpal Khatri Chhetry
- Dikshya Khadgi
- Gobinda Chhantyal
- Jagat Deuja
- Jasmine Ojha
- Kabita Bahing
- Kailash Rai
- Krishna Gautam
- Kritika Sapkota
- Kundan Raj Sharma
- Nirajan Thapaliya
- Majid Ansari
- Marissa Taylor
- Monisha Chaudhary
- Naresh Sob
- Ojaswee Bhattarai
- Ojaswi KC
- Prajwol Bikram Rana
- Prashant Tripathi
- Pushpa Neupane
- Raju Prasad Chapagai
- Raju Tamang
- Riyab Baniya
- Rishi Neupane
- Rupa Basnet
- Sabitri Thapa
- Sarita Lama
- Shanken Rai
- Smita Acharya
- Srijana Pun
- Sunita Thapa
- Sushant Nepali
- Sushma Neupane