Poor infrastructure and tardy legal processes push children in correction centres into deeper distress
Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.
TLDR
- Juvenile correction homes in Nepal are severely overcrowded and lack basic facilities, falling short of rehabilitation goals.
- Facilities are often two to three times over capacity, compromising children's rights to privacy, sanitation, and recreation.
- Poor management and a lack of space hinder essential services like skill-based training and recreational activities.
Nepal's juvenile correction centers, intended as spaces for rehabilitation, are instead becoming sites of congestion and neglect, failing to meet even the most basic standards of care for children in conflict with the law. Reports indicate that these facilities are operating at two to three times their intended capacity, creating conditions that are not only uncomfortable but deeply detrimental to the well-being and development of the young individuals housed within them.
Children are crammed into limited spaces, with three to four sharing a single bed.
The Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens reports that approximately 1,200 children are currently in 10 such homes across the country. The infrastructure in these centers, many of which were repurposed buildings not designed for correctional purposes, is severely strained. Overcrowding means children often share beds, face long queues for essential services like toilets, and lack adequate space for fresh air, sunlight, or any form of recreation. This situation directly contravenes legal provisions that guarantee children's rights to development and protection.
We have to queue for everything—cooking, eating, using the toilet and sleeping.
From the perspective of Kathmandu Post, this situation represents a critical failure in the state's duty of care. The lack of adequate facilities, including proper sleeping arrangements, kitchens, libraries, and playgrounds, prevents the implementation of crucial skill-based training and recreational activities that are vital for rehabilitation. The cramped conditions, particularly during warmer months, are described as suffocating by the children themselves. This systemic neglect not only fails to address the root causes of juvenile delinquency but actively exacerbates the distress of these vulnerable children, raising serious questions about the effectiveness and humanity of the juvenile justice system in Nepal.
Many have skills but have no opportunity to use them. Sports equipment is provided, but there is no space to play.
DistantNews Editorial
Originally published by Kathmandu Post. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.
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