KATHMANDU: Amnesty International has criticized the government for its persistent failure to implement the Right to Housing as guaranteed by the Constitution and formalized under the 2018 Right to Housing Act.
At a report launch event held in Kathmandu on Tuesday, Amnesty International highlighted an alarming rise in cases of forced evictions in recent years, attributing it to the government’s inability to enforce protective legal procedures and safeguards.
The report covers incidents from 2020 to 2024 in districts including Kathmandu, Siraha, Sunsari, Jhapa, and Kailali.
Despite legal provisions aimed at protecting vulnerable populations, the organization said the government has shown a pattern of negligence and weakness in enforcing due process. As a result, marginalized communities have been subjected to systemic abuse, neglect, and injustices.
“The gap between the constitutional promise of legal protection and the lived reality of marginalized people, who live in daily fear of forced eviction, is only growing wider,” said Nirajan Thapaliya, Director of Amnesty International Nepal.
Thapaliya noted that the government has particularly failed to protect the rights of landless people, who remain among the most at-risk groups. While the Land Issues Resolving Commission has made some efforts, it continues to be entangled in political deadlock, which has only deepened the crisis, he added.
Amnesty warned that without urgent and coordinated action to establish regulatory structures and enforce the right to adequate housing, the cycle of forced evictions and human rights violations will persist across Nepal.
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