Pema Abrahams

Last week, Nepal’s Constituent Assembly (CA) members drafted citizenship provisions in the country’s long-awaited constitution, causing much consternation and almost guaranteeing that approximately 2.1 million persons out of an estimated population of nearly 30 million will remain stateless. The specific draft provision that is deeply problematic and regressive refers to how a child may obtain citizenship by descent in the new Nepal: a child would be granted Nepali citizenship if both mother and father prove they are Nepali citizens.

This January, the president of Nepal signed into law a new National Human Rights Commission Act. Today, very few people are aware of the new Act and, perhaps more importantly, of its consequences. For a democratic country that aspires to respect and uphold the rule of law, this appears to be a step in the wrong direction.