Landless Squatters Protest Forced Eviction Demanding Secure Resettlement

Kathmandu. Landless squatters and unmanaged residents from holding centers have protested in Kathmandu demanding that no family be removed from the holding centers without ensuring secure resettlement. 

They protested from Maitighar to Babarmahal in Kathmandu on Saturday, demanding that no family be forcibly removed from the holding centers without ensuring secure resettlement, land ownership, and dignified housing.

They have demanded that the government implement its repeated assurances and immediately ensure a sustainable, just, and humane solution in accordance with the constitution and law, and if resettlement is to be done, they have also demanded permanent management with land ownership at the place where the house was demolished or at a suitable place according to the law.

During the protest, Dalmardan Kami, on behalf of the landless squatters and unmanaged residents in the holding centers, stated that repeated pressure to leave the holding centers has caused mental stress. He mentioned that various government bodies and police have pressured them to leave the holding centers after taking 25,000.

He demanded immediate proper management, stating that the government is trying to leave them stranded on the streets. Participants in the protest displayed placards with slogans such as 'Don't give bulldozers, give solutions,' 'Cannot kill people,' 'Don't want such a government,' and 'Stop atrocities against the poor.'

They became agitated after the Bagmati Civilization Integrated Development Committee issued a notice on Friday asking them to vacate the holding centers by Asar 19.