Return to Transcripts main page

CNN World Report

null

Aired July 08, 2001 - 14:35   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SHIHAB RATTANSI, CNN ANCHOR: Nepal continues to deal with the practice of bonded labor. The government outlawed the system of forced servitude a year ago. But bonded labor was so ingrained in Nepalese society that a governmental declaration alone hasn't been able to put an end to it. The International Labor Organization went to Nepal recently to monitor efforts to free Nepalese slaves.

ILO TV has the findings.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CORRESPONDENT, ILO TELEVISION: Makeshift camps like these dot Nepalese Western territory. Far from home they represent for most of their residents, the first home of their own since birth. These people are former kamayas -- farm workers, who were brought and tracked with their families in a lifetime of servitude. A year ago they were freed by a government decree.

HINGU THARU, FORMER KAMAYA (through translator): No matter where we go to work, we have a place to come to sleep. No can chase us from here or tell us to get out. Now at least I sleep in my own house.

CORRESPONDENT: A new report from the International Labor Organization, the ILO, says that bonded labor is a major problem particularly in South Asia, but some countries such as India, Pakistan, and Nepal are taking strong measures to eliminate it.

PATRICK DARU, ILO: You can (UNINTELLIGIBLE) was done by to keep people inside of a prison. Then you will have them inside of prison and you can do whatever you want. You can exploit them to the extent that you wish.

CORRESPONDENT: Some manage to escape the system even before it was outlawed. These woman fund an ILO-sponsored program with their ticket to a new life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We did not want to stay, but if we left we did not know where to go. If we stayed, we would be bonded again. We thought and thought and thought and planned, and we heard about the credit scheme so we took a loan of $5000 Nepali rupees, and opened a shop and left being a kamaya.

CORRESPONDENT: Not everyone finds freedom so easy to accept. They were bought by a landlord, but until his fellow kamayas helped him defy the landlord, he will continue to pay off the debt he believes he still owes.

PHAKU THARU, FORMER KAMAYA (through translator): I had also planned to leave. Then I thought clearly about it again. The landlord said, if you leave you have to clear your debt. If you leave, you have to repay the landlord said. So, because of that, I had to stay.

CORRESPONDENT: There are many still waiting to start a life of freedom, but at least for men like this, there is hope.

This report was compiled by (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for ILO TV for CNN WORLD REPORT.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com