Swiss aid Nepalese, despite violence

Celebrations in Kathmandu are overshadowed by the attacks by Maoist guerillas Keystone

Swiss development workers are to remain in Nepal despite the outbreak of fierce fighting between government troops and Maoist guerrillas.

A bombing in the Nepali capital of Kathmandu on Monday killed one person and wounded two others; on Tuesday soldiers shot dead two suspected Maoist rebels.

Maoist rebels want to replace Nepal’s constitutional monarchy with a communist republic. Recently, they ended a four-month ceasefire, and in the past two weeks, at least 200 people have been killed, as Nepalese soldiers tried to crush the insurgency.

Despite the declaration of a state of emergency by Nepal’s King Gyanendra, the Swiss Development Agency has decided to continue its aid projects in one of the poorest countries in the world.

Paul Egger, head of the division concerned with Nepal, Buthan and Vietnam, has told swissinfo that the security of those working on development projects is being revised.

Examining security

“We are analysing the situation and are looking at the security of our people and to what extend we have to adapt our programme,” he said, just before the bombing.

“The safety of our people in this situation is extremely important. However, it is not only about the safety for our people but also the safety for the Nepalese people working for us,” he stressed.

As confrontations with Maoists rebels continued over the past five years, the agency put certain security measures in place, which will be updated, he said.

Egger is not too concerned about the incidents in Kathmandu, as in his view the capital is not too much affected by the uprising.

“We have some 17 advisers and experts in Nepal but they are not working in the most affected areas. They are mainly based in Kathmandu with regular field visits,” he told swissinfo.

However, on Monday, two people were killed when suspected Maoist rebels blew up a Tibetan carpet showroom in Kathmandu’s Lalitpur district.

Priority country

The Himalayan kingdom has been a traditional priority country for development cooperation for the Swiss Development Agency for more than 40 years.

According to Egger, the agency has 25 projects in Nepal, most of them concentrated in hilly areas of high-mountain regions. It invested some SFr20 million last year.

“We are involved in areas of natural resource management, which means we are looking for more productive and sustainable use of soil and water in agriculture, the transport sector and we provide training for professionals,” he said.

Tourism suffers

The Nepal Tourism Board has released the latest tourism figures, which show that tourist arrivals have dropped 42 per cent compared with the same period last year.

This reflects a decline in the arrival of Indians and tourists from countries other than Nepal’s southern neighbours.

However, this does not come as a surprise, for Nepal’s entrepreneurs as tourist arrivals dropped by nearly one-half after a royal massacre in June, when the crown prince shot the king and eight relatives, before he turned the gun on himself.

Billi Bierling, Samantha Tonkin and agencies