Kamaiya and Kamlari (also called Kamalari) were two traditional systems of bonded labour practised in the western Terai of Nepal. Both were abolished after protests, in 2000 and 2006 respectively. Origins The system of bonded labour existed in Nepal since the 18th century; following the unification of Nepal, members of the ruling elite received land grants in the Terai and were entitled to collect revenue from those who cultivated the land. The Kamaiya system bonds males to labour, and the Kamlari system bonds females. Kamaiya system Kamaiya history Traditionally, people without land or work could get loans from landowners allowing them to sustain a minimum livelihood. In exchange to this, they had to live and work on the landowner's land as quasi slaves. Exorbitant debts were charged, and whole families were forced to slave labour for years and even generations, bonded by indebtedness to the landowner and bonded by unequal social relations to sell labour in lieu of the loan taken. Following the eradication of malaria in the Terai region in the 1950-60s, the large influx of hill migrants marginalized traditionally landowning Tharu people by occupying their lands. While the Tharus had no records of the land they were cultivating, the settlers registered the land in their name, forcing the Tharus to work as agricultural labourers. The customary practice of obtaining a "helping hand for family business" was gradually replaced by the forced labour system called Kamaiya, which in Tharu parlance is tantamount to hardworking hired farm labour. The Kamaiya system existed in particular in western Nepal and affects especially the Tharu people and Dalits. Kamaiya abolition Increasing protests against the kamaiya system, organized by the "Kamaiya movement", led to its abolition in 2000. On 17 July that year, the Government of Nepal announced the Kamaiya system be banned, all Kamaiyas be freed and their debts be cancelled. Although most Kamaiya families were freed, the system has persisted. Many Kamaiyas were evicted by their former landlords and released into poverty without any support. Others received land that was unproductive. To alleviate the poverty of the affected people – the main cause of the system – rehabilitation and distribution of land were promised to ex-Kamaiya families. To put action behind the attempts to discuss the land issue with the government, the ex-Kamaiyas started occupying land in Kailali and Bardiya districts in the winter of 2005–06. But a decade after being liberated,