In response to a complaint filed by two Nepali organizations against Visa Facilitation Services (VFS) Global, the Swiss Government’s National Contact Point has recommended the company to disengage responsibly from its lease agreement with the Chhaya Center business complex in Kathmandu’s tourist district of Thamel.
The complaint (specific instance) against the VFS Global headquartered in Zurich was submitted to the National Contact Point (NCP) for Responsible Business Conduct within the State Secretariat of Economic Affairs of the Government of Switzerland on 25 August 2024. It alleged failures by the VFS Global to conduct effective human rights due diligence for its involvement in the Chhaya Center business complex and associated human rights impacts on the Indigenous Newar community through its continued operations in the complex in violation of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.
On 6 December 2024, the VFS Global informed the NCP in written that it had decided not to extend the lease and to relocate from the premises at the Chhaya Center as soon as feasible. However, the VFS continues to operate its visa application center in Kathmandu from the Chhaya Center till date. In its Final Statement on the complaint published on 25 June 2025, the Swiss NCP thus recommended the VFS Global to disengage responsibly from its lease agreement at the Chhaya Center. The NCP also regretted that the VFS Global did not accept its offer of dialogue with the complainants. It thus also recommended the VFS Global to consider participating in similar future dialogues.
The construction of the Chhaya Center business complex has caused various human rights violations of Indigenous Newar community, particularly the local Pradhan Newars of Thamel. The complex is built on communal Guthi (trust) land that was historically a sacred pond and its banks traditionally owned by Indigenous Pradhan Newar and used for religious and cultural purposes. Legal disputes and protests have arisen over the legitimacy of the Guthi land’s conversion to private ownership and eventually build the business complex. Court cases have been ongoing for decades and currently sub judice at Nepal’s Supreme Court since 2014. Activists associated with the complainants have also faced threats and harassment due to their opposition to the Center’s construction.
In the Final Statement, the NCP has also recalled that any form of intimidation against the complainants or the NCP is not permitted as the NCP itself reportedly received letter from the legal counsel of the Chhaya Center requesting withdrawal of its Initial Assessment report on the complaint citing financial and reputational damages to the Chhaya Center.
While the NCP has now closed the complaint, it is not yet known when or how the VFS Global will responsibly disengage from its relationship with the Chhaya Center. Further, as sought by the complainants, the VFS Global did not acknowledge its linkage to human rights abuses of Indigenous Newar community due to its involvement in Chhaya Center and failed to use any leverage to mitigate the adverse human rights impacts on the community or even to engage with the community’s representatives. Similarly, as the NCP stated that with the decision of VFS to end the lease and move out of the Chhaya Centre, the basis for mediation on forward looking issues would no longer exist, “backward-looking” remedies for the harms could not even be discussed with the offer for mediation rejected by the VFS Global.
In response to a similar complaint filed with the US NCP at the US State Department in August 2023 against Marriott International for its involvement with the Chhaya Center, the NCP is yet to conclude the complaint process while Marriott International has even failed to engage effectively with the NCP.
For more information about the campaign to restore the sacred pond, see the timeline here.