Nepal, May 13 -- With just 24 hours' notice, Nepal's government has uprooted hundreds of families by declaring their homes unauthorized and illegal. In Kathmandu, families living along the riverbanks were wailing and crying while the bulldozers, with little warning, were erasing entire communities-one after another. Some of these families had lived there for decades. Overnight, they lost their homes, livelihoods, and their children's access to nearby schools. Some of them were relocated to distant temporary shelters without basic daily amenities. Others were left homeless, traumatized, and wounded in their self-respect. It's hard to grasp this sense of hopelessness unless we visualize ourselves in that position.

Government officials arg...