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Rehabilitation of Verified Minors and Late Recruits

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Combatants to Civilians

Part of the book series: Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies ((RCS))

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Abstract

This chapter analyses the nature of the rehabilitation programme targeted to Verified Minors and Late Recruit (VMLR) ex-combatants. It examines micro and macro-level factors that have affected, either positively or negatively, the process and outcomes of the rehabilitation programme. It also uncovers how the ex-combatants themselves perceived of and responded to the programme and what lessons can we learn in the field of post-conflict peacebuilding from the efforts made to rehabilitate the VMLRs in Nepal.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Also see http://www.hrw.org/reports/2007/nepal0207/4.htm.

  2. 2.

    For more on IDDR standards, see UN (2010a). The other verified ex-combatants deselected a rehabilitation option; instead they received a cash package.

  3. 3.

    Interview with a UN staff member in Kathmandu, November 2011.

  4. 4.

    Interview with a staff member at UNIRP in Kathmandu, November 2011.

  5. 5.

    Interview with a UN staff member and a government official from MoPR in Kathmandu, October 2011.

  6. 6.

    Interview with a UNIRP staff member, Kathmandu, November 2011.

  7. 7.

    Interview in Kathmandu, October 2011.

  8. 8.

    Interview in Kathmandu, December 2011.

  9. 9.

    There is no actual figure available on the unemployment rate in Nepal . A database on unemployment rate has reported it to be 46% of the total population (see http://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?v=74). In Nepal , calculating the unemployment rate can also be complicated because of a significant overlap between unemployment and under-employment, as a large proportion of the rural population who live on subsistence agriculture remain unemployed most of the time. Interview with a sociologist in Kathmandu, February 2013.

  10. 10.

    Interview with an officer from the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction in Kathmandu, October 2011.

  11. 11.

    Interview with a MoPR officer, October 2011.

  12. 12.

    Interview with a CPNUML leader in Kathmandu, December 2011.

  13. 13.

    Interview with a UNIRP staff member, Kathmandu, November 2011.

  14. 14.

    Interview with civil society leaders in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, and Dhangadi in September, October, and December 2011 respectively.

  15. 15.

    Interview with a VMLR in Dhangadi , December 2011.

  16. 16.

    Interview with a male businessman in Biratnagar, October 2011.

  17. 17.

    Interview with a male businessman in Biratnagar, October 2011.

  18. 18.

    Interview with a female INGO worker, Kathmandu, October 2011.

  19. 19.

    Interview with a civil society leader in Dhangadi , December 2011.

  20. 20.

    Interview with a UN staff member, Kathmandu, December 2011.

  21. 21.

    Interviewed in Kathmandu, October 2011.

  22. 22.

    The Local Peace Committee (LPC) is a district-level as well as community -level inclusive peace mechanism. It has members from all major political parties, civil society , conflict victims and women. Its overall aims are to create an environment conducive to a just system in a transitional period through restoration of sustainable peace by resolving the remnants of conflict at the local level and systematically promoting the processes of peace and reconstruction through mutual goodwill and unity. As of April 2011, according to the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction (MoPR) , 73 out of 75 districts have established LPCs under the tutelage of the MoPR.

  23. 23.

    Interview with ex-combatants , Dangadi, December 2011.

  24. 24.

    Interview with UNIRP staff member in Kathmandu, November 2011.

  25. 25.

    Interviewed in December 2011.

  26. 26.

    YCL is the youth wing of CPNM, officially established in February 2007. Initially the YCL operated as a para military group and was accused of carrying out political violence across the country.

  27. 27.

    Interview with a UNIRP staff member, Kathmandu, November 2011.

  28. 28.

    Interview with a UN staff member, December 2012.

  29. 29.

    Interviewed in October 2011.

  30. 30.

    Interviewed in October 2011.

  31. 31.

    Interviewed in November 2011.

  32. 32.

    Interviewed in Itahari, Sunsari, October 2011.

  33. 33.

    According to VMLR interviewees, they received up to Nepali rupees 20,000 as post-training and business-start up support, but this was paid in kind in instalment basis.

  34. 34.

    Interviewed in October 2011.

  35. 35.

    Interviewed in Kathmandu, October 2012.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia

    D. B. Subedi

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Subedi, D.B. (2018). Rehabilitation of Verified Minors and Late Recruits . In: Combatants to Civilians. Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58672-8_6

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