Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
sympathetic to the cause. During this time, the king received
aid from foreign countries.
During this decadeﾭlong civil war, nearly 13,000 people
were killed, and 100,000 to 150,000 Nepalese were internally
displaced. As a result, the tourism industry, Nepal's greatest
source of revenue, decreased significantly. Once ranked tenth
on a list of iExplore's (a travel company's) published reports
based on sales, Nepal moved to twentyﾭseventh in 2005. Young
people also moved out of the country, seeking employment and
stability in neighboring countries. They found employment
in Middle East countries like Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and in
Southeast Asia. Their families are heavily dependent upon the
money they send back home. This foreign income has permitﾭ
ted the country to avoid a serious economic crisis.
Ceaseﾭfires and negotiations were initiated several times
during the war, to no avail. In April 2006, hundreds of thouﾭ
sands of people protested through the streets of Kathmandu
against autocratic rule. In response, government troops fired
into crowds, killing more than a dozen people. Faced with
daily protests, a general strike, and roadblocks that cut off the
city from fuel and food supplies, King Gyanendra restored
Parliament, which he had suspended four years earlier, and
named Girija Prasad Koirala as prime minister. Using its
newfound authority, the House of Representatives stripped
the king of his power and declared Nepal a secular state. The
Maoist rebels declared a threeﾭmonth truce and began peace
talks with the government.
In November 2006, the Maoist rebels reached a peace
agreement with the Nepalese government. As part of the agreeﾭ
ment, the Maoists, under United Nations supervision, turned
over their weapons and limited their troops to camps. For the
government's part, a commission was set up to investigate
human rights abuses by both sides in the long conflict. Maoﾭ
ists joined the government in April 2007 after Prime Minister
Koirala assigned 5 of the 22 cabinet posts to the CPN (Maoists).
