Legal Recognition for the Missing, Respect for Their Families

The government has issued an ordinance allowing people missing in the Bhotekoshi floods to be declared dead after 45 days. Previously, families had to wait 12 years for such legal recognition. Issued as the 45th day since the floods approached, the decision may enable grieving families to pursue death registration, compensation, insurance claims and property matters. But receiving a legal document is not the same as knowing what happened to a loved one. The new provision must therefore be implemented in a way that expedites administrative procedures while placing families’ grief and human dignity at its centre.

Reports say 1,455 bodies have been recovered and 5,285 people remain missing. The government has shifted its focus from search and rescue to rehabilitation and reconstruction. The form of the rescue operation may change, but the duty to search for and identify the missing does not end. Any remains, belongings or personal effects found during reconstruction must be secured, examined and matched with information provided by families. Government procedures must not leave any family feeling that the search for their loved one has been abandoned.

The ordinance has simplified the process; the government is now responsible for ensuring that it is fair. The list of missing people, details of incidents and evidence used for identification should be made public and regularly updated. Police, local governments, hospitals, disaster agencies and forensic laboratories need a shared record system. DNA samples must be collected and tested with families’ consent, with safeguards for the security of samples and the confidentiality of results. Families must also have a clear way to seek a review and correct errors if an identification is uncertain or disputed.

Families should be able to obtain death registration certificates without difficulty. Unnecessary paperwork, fees and repeated visits to government offices must be eliminated. The families of foreign nationals affected by the floods, as well as Nepali families, should receive information, identification assistance and legal support through the relevant embassies and Nepali authorities. Relief, compensation and insurance payments must follow consistent standards, and families should be informed promptly about the status of their claims.

The disaster has caused extensive damage to roads, bridges, settlements and hydropower projects. Reconstruction plans cannot focus solely on physical infrastructure; the state must also take responsibility for the livelihoods, mental health and long-term support of families whose relatives remain missing. Preparedness to reduce disaster risks, monitoring of mountain river systems and cross-border information sharing should also be built into reconstruction plans.

The ordinance has removed a legal barrier. Its success should be measured not by how quickly death certificates are issued, but by whether families receive fair identification, dignified support and continuing answers. Paperwork may complete a record; the search for the missing, the pursuit of truth and the state’s responsibility to their families must continue.