Kathmandu: Hundreds of former child soldiers of the Maoists’ guerrilla force were on Friday released from the UN supervised camps in Nepal as part of the landmark 2006 peace process, which has been stalled due to the deepening political crisis in the country.
“Today marks the first step in the return to civilian life for thousands of Nepalis who have been living in cantonments since 2006,” said United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Robert Piper.
He said the ceremony “is an important milestone in the ongoing peace process and will, we hope, speed up other steps laid out in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement”.
The process of discharge of the disqualified PLA personnel began from the Maoist army cantonment in Sindhuli.
Nearly 20,000 former rebel fighters have been housed in seven main camps since 2006, when they ended their decade-long armed rebellion to join a peace process and enter mainstream politics. UN monitors found that 2,975 of the fighters were under 18. Altogether, there are some 4,008 disqualified Maoists guerrillas.
The former child soldiers have been provided with special identification cards which will facilitate their entry to schools or colleges, take up vocational training or start businesses with the help of government and UN agencies.
More than 200 former child soldiers serving in the Maoists’ People’s Liberation Army (PLA) were released from the camps in Dudhauli, about 200 kilometres southwest of the capital.
The disqualified combatants bid their comrades farewell amid a special function at Dudhauli camps where they have lived since the Maoists joined mainstream politics three years ago putting an end to the decade-long insurgency that left at least 16,000 people dead.
With their release, the discharge process of the combatants disqualified by United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) has formally kicked off at Dudhauli.
The function was attended by government officials, Maoists and representatives of the UNMIN, which is tasked to supervise the peace process in the country.
The 201 individuals released today are among 4,008 former Maoist combatants – including some 500 below 18 years old – who were disqualified as PLA guerrillas as they were children or late recruits.
Each of the combatants will receive Rs 10,000 from UNMIN as allowance and a fresh set of civilian clothes, according to statement issued by the UNMIN. The discharge is scheduled to be completed in seven cantonments across the country by mid-February.
The Maoists, who waged a violent insurgency in Nepal, joined mainstream politics after a 2006 peace deal with the interim government led by G P Koirala.
According to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the rebels were supposed to be integrated into Nepal’s military.
UCPN-Maoist formed Nepal’s first post-royal government on August 2008 after the former rebels emerged as the largest party in the April constituent assembly polls. However, Maoists supremo Prachanda had blamed General Rukmangad Katawal, the then Army Chief dismissed by him in May last year of resisting the integration of former rebels into the military as stipulated under the 2006 peace agreement.
The political parties are deadlocked over the Maoists’ demand to rectify the decision of President Ram Baran Yadav, who reinstated General Katawal.
The standoff has put new stresses on Nepal’s reconciliation efforts amid fears that the peace process may be derailed if the Maoists agitation is not ended soon.
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