Government of Nepal denounces “Indian embargo” for shortages in country hit by devastating earthquake earlier this year.
Crippling shortages of daily commodities and life-saving medicines have left millions of children at risk of death and disease as the harsh winter looms in the Himalayan country, according to UNICEF.
Nepal’s government says an economic embargo by India has led to severe shortages in the landlocked country, forcing it to ration petroleum products and cooking gas. Nepal recently passed the new secular Constitution, with big disappointment of Indian ruling party BJP, which previously pushed for an “hindutva” inspired Constitution for the himalayan country. India, which denies it has imposed a blockade, says the cargo trucks are stranded on the border because unrest in the region.
Nevertheless, UNICEF sounded the alarm on the impending emergency, while Nepali authorities seem woefully unprepared to tackle the crisis. It’s a serious problem, children are at risk. The indian blockade (an unofficial embargo, indeed) has created uneasy circumstances and everyone has been impacted by it.
Nepal has not any specific program to deal with this. They don’t have budget to do so. People urged the NGOs to support them. The UNICEF statement paints a grim picture of the unfolding crisis, stating that children recovering from the two earthquakes that struck Nepal earlier this year could be the worst hit.
More than 200,000 families affected by the tremors are still living in temporary shelters, at an altitude above 1,500 metres where weather conditions will be harshest this winter. The risks of hypothermia and malnutrition, and the shortfall in life-saving medicines and vaccines, could be a potentially deadly combination for children this winter.
The conditions at the temporary shelters are dismal. They neither have home nor food to eat. The winter season takes its toll on children who are likely to suffer from cough and cold.
Humanitarian organizations and Civil Society calls upon India to immediately stop the blockade or embrargo, whatever wish to call, at least in order to save the lives of Nepali children.
Source article: UNICEF sounds Nepal warning as harsh winter looms