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The US Department of State’s Coordinator on Global Anti-Corruption Richard Nephew paid an official visit to Nepal this past week. According to the US embassy in Kathmandu, Nephew discussed with Nepali officials the progress regarding Nepal’s anti-corruption commitment as part of Summit for Democracy, and pledged US commitment to supporting Nepal’s efforts to eradicate corruption.

Nephew’s visit comes at a time when Nepal is investigating some big corruption scandals such as the fake Bhutanese refugee scandal, Lalita Niwas land grab and Kathmandu airport gold trafficking case. The US anti-corruption head also met Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha and the leadership of the Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police. 

Fighting corruption is a key component of US foreign policy. In response to ApEx’s email inquiry about Nephew’s visit, a US State Department spokesperson said: “We know as a universal truth that corruption erodes public trust in government and democratic institutions, deepens poverty and inequity, threatens public security, and stifles opportunity and growth.”

“It affects people in virtually every aspect of their daily lives, draining vital resources. That is why President Biden has designated the fight against corruption as a core US national security interest and why Coordinator Nephew’s mission is so important.” 

During his two-day Nepal stay, Nephew met with various Nepali officials  to learn about corruption challenges and to confer on how the US can help address these issues as part of overall Nepal-US partnership.

The US State Department spokesperson said Nephew was not in Nepal to see the progress on any specific case of corruption. In response to ApEx’s inquiry, the spokesperson said: “Just like any allegations of corruption, the current allegations of corruption and the unlawful fabrication of refugee documents in Nepal are concerning.”

This is probably the first time the US has expressed concerns over the fake Bhutanese refugee scam.  

“We understand Nepali authorities are investigating the allegations and hope they will quickly determine what transpired, hold perpetrators accountable, and deter future corruption cases in accordance with the law and the Nepal government’s commitments to transparency and accountability,” said the spokesperson.

“The United States has consistently supported Nepali government and civil society efforts to root out corruption. Transparent investigations into allegations of corruption demonstrate to the Nepali people that no one is above the law.  We commend actions by the Government of Nepal to bring truth to light in accordance with rule of law.”

Between 2007 and 2018, the US has welcomed tens of thousands of Bhutanese refugees formerly residing in Nepal as part of our global commitment to support refugees. The program has since ended, and there were no significant concerns regarding fraudulent activity associated with that resettlement process, said the spokesperson. 

Of late, visiting US officials have been raising corruption eradication as a key agenda to strengthen democracy. Earlier in January, US under Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland talked with Nepali politicians about the need to continue fighting corruption.

 The Biden administration in 2021 unveiled the US Strategy on Countering Corruption. In June that year, Biden said that corruption threatens United States national security, economic equity, global anti-poverty and development efforts, and democracy itself. “But by effectively preventing and countering corruption and demonstrating the advances of transparent and accountable governance, we can secure a critical advantage for the United States and other democracies,” he added.  

In Nepal, three corruption scandals—fake refugee scandal, Lalita Niwas land grab and gold smuggling—are under investigation. On the fake refugee case, the CIB has already filed cases against more than one person including former home minister, Bal Krishna Khand, and CPN-UML senior leader Top Bahadur Rayamajhi.
The CIB has also reopened the file on Lalita Niwas land grab case in which two former prime ministers Madhav Kumar Nepal and Baburam Bhattarai have also been implicated. The CIB is also investigating the gold trafficking case from Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport in which the involvement of high profile business persons and politicians has been suspected.

Although the Constitution of Nepal stands for fundamental rights, sustainable development and welfare policies, a sweeping wave of unemployment and inflation have pushed the country to a breaking point.

A soaring inflation has caused a brutal impact on the lives, livelihoods and overall well-being of the people. Whatever you purchase these days has inflation attached to it. To mitigate the economic distress resulting from a double impact of inflation and unemployment, the government could have introduced welfare schemes as the constitution has envisaged that all public policies are supposed to be in sync with fundamental rights and directive principles.

Soaring market prices have everyone upset. Tomatoes have become so costly that people have begun comparing them with petrol. In fact, it is a wrong comparison. While petrol costs Rs 175/liter these days, tomatoes cost around Rs 200/kg. In such a situation, governments—central, provincial and local—should have provided some relief to the people.

Constitutional quagmires

Our constitution, which entered into force on 20 Sept 2015, ‘guarantees’ so many rights. It guarantees the right to food (Article 36); right to employment (Article 33); the rights of consumers to have quality goods and services (Article 44), so on and so forth. Over and above all else, it guarantees the right to live a dignified life (Article 16). I wonder why we are not talking about these foundation stones on which the constitution stands.

Inflation has a direct bearing on poverty. The other side of this picture is that some of the adverse effects may have a lasting impact. For instance, a section of the population may suffer from diseases for want of a balanced diet owing to the lack of income or poverty.

On the other hand, people may not be able to educate their kids properly regardless of the right to education enshrined in Article 31 of the constitution as one of the fundamental rights.

All this has the people and their fundamental rights on the receiving end. In today’s federal democratic republic, the fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution sound so alien. Gradually, this situation may give rise to public distrust toward constitutional guarantees and government-made promises, thereby fomenting anarchy.

Preamble of the charter

The preamble of the charter obliges the state to end “all forms of discrimination and oppression created by the feudal, autocratic, centralized, and unitary system” for the creation of an “egalitarian society on the basis of the principle of proportional inclusion.” The preamble affirms the sovereignty of “We the people,” committed to fulfilling the “aspirations for perpetual peace, good governance, development and prosperity through the medium of democratic republican system of governance” and thus “hereby promulgate this Constitution through the Constituent Assembly.” The concluding part seeks to unite the citizens in an enduring sense of duty to uphold constitutional norms, not just the ‘loyalty of lip service’.

The Parliamentarians and the provincial leaders must ask themselves whether, as responsible public servants, they have stood up to the constitutional promise of maintaining the concept called “rule of law” and “egalitarianism”.

The governments’ failure to guarantee the fundamental rights (by curbing inflation and by providing jobs) can end up disrobing egalitarianism, the rule of law and the overall objectives of the preamble. 

Way forward

The people should raise their concerns strongly against unscrupulous exploitation of their rights and value their hard-earned money. A culture of accountability and honesty will not flourish in the country unless the consumers themselves become more vigilant.

Article 46 of the constitution empowers every citizen to knock the doors of the Supreme Court (Article 133) or High Courts (Article 144) for the realization of fundamental rights. Article 48 casts a fundamental duty on every citizen to abide by the constitution and the prevailing laws. 

Do we care about these provisions?

The governments’ failure to curb inflation or their failure to introduce welfare schemes amidst rising inflation reflects poorly on our political leaders. For them, nothing else matters save absolute power, it appears. This has a profound negative bearing on the entire democratic system of governance.

To protect fundamental rights, the government should rein in food inflation. There should be frequent administrative checks on retail prices, hoarding of food commodities and unabated smuggling of food items to the neighborhood.

Escalating food prices are especially worrisome as they undermine the right to food.  The mismanagement of the economy and lawlessness should not be the hallmarks of our federal democracy.

Margaret Thatcher, a British politician, had rightly said, “The Constitution has to be written on hearts, not just paper.” If we really want to live and breathe in a democracy, our constitution must be acknowledged in letter and spirit.   

It’s high time to realize that the country cannot survive with uncontrolled inflation and frequent disruption of constitutional mandates, especially given that Nepal is an ancient country of sustainable development-friendly people.

Take a pledge to implement the constitution, for the country deserves the rule of law. As George Washington has said, “The constitution is the guide which I will never abandon,” the time has come for every Nepali, including leaders and Ministers, to take the same solemn pledge.

Private Royal Guards in the UAE are not the nucleus of the defense forces. There are private companies involved in providing protection and security to the VIPs and important installations in coordination with national defense or the UAE police forces. For example, a specialized and high-tech defense solution company, the International Golden Group, has been supplying human resources to the UAE armed forces, ministry of interior and other defense-security authorities. Nepalis are part of the Royal Guard Abu-Dhabi and Royal Guard Dubai, but their numbers are hard to get. The civil security in the UAE has a troop strength exceeding 100,000, with approximately 1000 employed as armed guards. 

There are many private international and national contracting involved in recruiting armed guards in different parts of the world to lower the costs of war. The personnel needed for long-drawn-out military involvements in troubled nation states like Afghanistan are outsourced to countries whose GDP relies heavily on remittances from labor migration like Nepal. 

Repercussions on stability 

Nepal has a population of around 30m, and it is expected to reach 35.32m by 2050. It is a young country with 20.8 percent of the national population aged 16-25 years and 40.68 percent aged 16-40 years, pointing at a population surplus or a youth bulge.

But the downside is that the unemployment rate for youths aged 15-29 is 19.2 percent compared to 2.7 per cent of the whole population. According to estimates, over 500,000 Nepali youths enter the labor force every year. These figures indicate the quantitative dimension of the employment challenge, something which the state, including political leadership, needs to deal with.

Pensions and salaries are received in large amounts when a nation relies heavily on remittance. There are 125,000 Nepali retirees from the British, Indian and Singapore security forces, who received a total of Rs 61.9bn in pensions in 2021.

Over the years, the government of Nepal, along with the international community, has demonstrated commitment to addressing the root causes of violence and terrorism, focusing on economic development, political inclusivity and social harmony while dealing with armed outfits. 

Initially a rebel group, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) waged a decade-long (1996-2006) insurgency but transitioned into mainstream democratic politics after a peace agreement with the government. 

Some other outfits include the Janatantrik Tarai Mukti Morcha (JTMM) that advocates for the rights of the Madhesi community and the Nepal Defense Army (NDA), a splinter of the Maoists that opposed the peace process and resumed armed activities in the mid-2000s. 

Conclusion 

Historically, Nepalis have become part of the defense forces of other nations through treaties or agreements. Contractors and agents have been part of the warfare mostly visible after the Gulf War. Of late, Nepali youths’ vulnerability to unwanted recruitment and undesired migration has become a matter of serious concern. This situation has arisen due to the lack of relevant domestic policies, lack of political accountability and domestic governance priorities, in the wake of Russia’s offense in Ukraine ignoring the obligations as one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (P5).

Given this context, the government should take immediate action and implement measures to prevent Nepali citizens from joining the armed forces or forces that are not part of treaties and/or bilateral  agreements reached through memorandums of understanding or agreements.

Nepali citizens becoming part of the Russian armed forces is contrary to the spirit of the position that Nepal took at the UN Security Council meeting in March 2022. Such participation goes against Nepal’s foreign policy of neutrality and non-alignment. 

Nepali citizens being part of Russian defense forces has four facets in the international geopolitical situation. It leads to the loss of international political trust as well as diplomatic unease and apprehension; contradicts Nepal’s non-aligned foreign policy as well as long-held stance at the UN, gives rise to political unaccountability and increases the risk of terrorist organizations, political parties or non-state actors using trained personnel. 

So, the government of Nepal and the Parliament need to keep a close watch on the activities of the citizens and circumstances surrounding them within the country and abroad. First, the government should revisit the rules and regulations regarding migration by adhering to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 10 Dec 1948 (General Assembly resolution 217A). Secondly, it should ensure the repatriation of Nepali citizens if they are part of any contradicting treaty or bilateral arrangement, entered particularly through agencies and contractors. Thirdly, for the country to effectively benefit from weapons-trained youths, a number of measures can be taken. 

They include the formulation of a clear transition and reintegration plan for the weapons-trained youths; implementation of a dedicated program for utilizing their skills in service of the country; their mobilization for strengthening intelligence cooperation; amendment in recruitment policies and procedures for assimilation; induction into reserve forces with attractive compensation packages; career progression opportunities and partnerships and collaborations with foreign armed forces where Nepali individuals are serving to exchange knowledge, training methodologies, and best practices. This can contribute to the overall professional development of Nepal’s security forces and help in leveraging the skills of weapons-trained individuals.

Overall, a comprehensive approach is required to address the social, economic, and psychological aspects of the reintegration process to maximize the benefits of weapons-trained Nepali youths for Nepal’s security. Such measures can contribute to a strong and capable security apparatus, ensuring the safety and well-being of the nation and its citizens.

The author is a Strategic Analyst, Major General (Retd) of the Nepali Army, and is associated with Rangsit University, Thailand

Environment is a multifaceted topic. 

Production—of food, electricity and other stuffs—is an indispensable part of life the world over. Paradoxically, production-oriented activities, so crucial for life, also contribute to environmental degradation. Therefore, striking a balance between production and nature conservation is essential. Taking the world two decades back, climate-wise—by bringing down temperatures—is a step worth considering, as it can make the climate more suitable for sustaining and nurturing life. 

Parts of Nepal experienced prolonged drought, followed swiftly by rain-triggered floods and landslides, pointing at erratic weather patterns.  This is worrisome. 

Despite Nepal’s minimal contribution to global climate change, it has been grappling with consequences observed in more developed nations.

Efforts to secure climate finance for mitigation and adaptation from prosperous nations have achieved limited success despite persistent lobbying on the part of developing/underdeveloped countries.

All nations should unite to combat the climate crisis because individual efforts won’t be enough.

The author is a veteran journalist