Hundreds of former Maoist rebels yesterday began leaving the camps they have called home since the end of their insurgency in 2006, to join the regular army or start new lives.
The historic transition follows a breakthrough peace deal signed on Nov. 1 by the Maoists and the three other major political parties, which paved the way for life beyond the cantonments for the battle-hardened former fighters.
“It is a critical time in their lives. It is also challenging and demanding for us,” said Balananda Sharma, a retired lieutenant-general who is overseeing the integration of the 19,000 former-rebels into the army and Nepalese society.
The fighters formed a queue snaking around a hill at the Shaktikhor cantonment in Chitwan, about 220km southwest of Kathmandu, to ask army monitors in blue jackets about their options for the future.
Under the deal, 6,500 fighters will be integrated into the Nepal Army while the remainder choose between retirement payoffs of 500,000 to 800,000 rupees (US$6,300 to US$10,200) and a rehabilitation package that includes vocational training.
Sharma said those opting for the payoff would get their cash in two installments, one year apart, while those who opt for the -training packages would be counseled by careers’ experts.
“We will offer them alternatives based on their qualifications,” Sharma said, adding that the reintegration process would take more than 10 days and the combatants would remain in the camp until their leaders had worked out the logistics of the retirement and rehabilitation packages.
The rest of the thousands of former fighters will leave the camps over the coming days.
“We will give them enough time to decide their future because, after joining the war, this is the most crucial decision they are going to make in their career,” Sharma added.
“The issue of Maoist fighters is the most important aspect of the peace process and the regrouping is the first major step towards it.”
More than 19,000 former Maoist fighters are confined to seven cantonments across Nepal. The camps were set up and monitored by the UN until January when the UN mission in Nepal handed over the keys of Maoist weapons containers to a cross-party special committee.
The Maoists fought a decade-long war against the state in which at least 16,000 people died.
The former rebels left their jungle redoubts and joined mainstream politics in 2006, going on to win landmark elections two years later and abolishing the country’s 240-year-old monarchy.
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