The raids are part of putting the law in action, said Shreeram Dhakal, coordinator of the District Child Protection Committee and the Chief District Officer. He said the raids would take place all over the district and those unwilling to comply with the law would be prosecuted.
The girls rescued in the raid are 10-year-old Rumita Chaudhari, 15-year-old Anita Chaudhari, 14-year-old Kamala Kumal and 16-year-old Parwati Jiam.
Although several acts such as the Children´s Act of 1991, Child Labor (Prohibition and Control) Act of 1999 and the Kamaiya Labor Act 200 prohibit bonded labor, the Kamlari system to keep bonded household laborers is still prevalent. On September 10, 2006, the Supreme Court ordered the government to properly implement the laws to abolish the Kamlari tradition and provide freed Kamlaris with compensation.
Authorities began the raids as there has been no change in local practice even after Dang was declared a Kamlari-free district on January 14, 2009, by the District Child Welfare Committee and several organizations working for Kamlari rights in the area. There are currently 271 children living as bonded laborers in Dang.
According to Manbahadur Kshetri, member of the District Kamlari Monitoring Committee, the difficulty in implementing the law lie in the fact that those keeping bonded laborers have political protection. He claims even government officials keep bonded laborers.
“Even if we have forwarded proposals to take action against those who keep Kamlaris, nothing has happened,” said Kshetri.
The National Human Rights Commission declared that the Kamlari tradition was still not eradicated from districts like Dang, Banke, Bardiya, Kailali and Kanchanpur, and thus urged the government to take immediate action in this regard on December 2008.
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