Floodwaters of Injustice: The Quest for Identity in Nepal’s Disaster

The recent floods in Nepal have left a trail of devastation and despair. Amidst the chaos, a quiet crisis has emerged – one that threatens to compound the trauma of those affected. Over 1,400 victims from 30 countries remain unidentified, their fragmented remains a testament to the scale of the disaster.

International support has been crucial in this high-stakes situation. Teams from Singapore, India, China, South Korea, Japan, and the US have provided vital equipment, expertise, and funding to help Nepal cope with its overwhelming forensic workload. However, beneath this global effort lies a more insidious truth: Nepal’s own capacity for disaster victim identification has been woefully underfunded and understaffed for years.

The National Forensic Science Laboratory (NFSL) in Lalitpur is the epicenter of Nepal’s forensic efforts. With an annual budget of around 90 million Nepalese rupees (S$750,000), it’s clear that the NFSL has struggled to keep pace with its modest workload of DNA tests. The lab’s technicians have analyzed about 100 bone samples in the past; now they must handle at least 14 times that number – a daunting task given their limited resources and expertise.

According to Eugene Wang, commander of the Singapore Police Force’s disaster victim identification team in Nepal, “Nepal is the site of the disaster, international protocol states that Nepal must be the one to match the DNAs of missing foreigners as well.” This assertion raises questions about Nepal’s capacity for disaster victim identification. Is it a case of outsourcing responsibility, or is it a recognition that Nepal’s own capacity has been severely compromised by years of underinvestment in forensic infrastructure?

DNA matching software and international support are only partial solutions to the problem. The real challenge lies in addressing the systemic weaknesses that have left Nepal so ill-equipped to handle such disasters. Nirajan Thapa, head of department at the NFSL, acknowledged that “Most of the DNA analysis we handled were for paternity and maternity litigation, immigration cases, and some crimes. This is quite different from disaster victim identification.” The almost 1,400 samples from flood victims are from whole bodies as well as fragments – a workload that’s overwhelming even with international support.

The Nepalese government’s decision to adopt a global disaster protocol in which found bodies are temporarily buried in marked graves has been a necessary step. However, it also serves as a tacit admission of the limitations of Nepal’s forensic capacity. The fact that DNA is now the chief way to identify at least 1,400 bodily remains raises questions about what other investigative tools might have been employed – and why they were not.

As the international community pours in resources to support Nepal’s efforts, it’s essential to recognize that this crisis is not just about disaster response but also about the long-term consequences of underfunding and understaffing. The NFSL’s technicians are working through holidays and weekends, trying to manage the huge technical and logistical challenge of identifying thousands of victims – a task that’s likely to take months, if not years.

The floodwaters may have receded, but the true waters of justice remain murky. As Nepal struggles to identify its victims, it’s clear that the real challenge lies ahead – in confronting the systemic weaknesses that have left the country so ill-equipped to handle such disasters.