Deal for Maoist Combatants Integration / Jan 6, 2010

Top priority for marginalized in integration

KATHMANDU, Jan 7: Ethnic, dalit, Madhesi and women Maoist combatants will get top priority for integration into the national security forces, myrepublica.com has learnt.

The Special Committee on Supervision, Integration and Rehabilitation will take a special political decision in this regard, says a confidential proposed plan of action on integration and rehabilitation. google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad);

“The idea behind giving priority to combatants with marginalized backgrounds is to make the national security forces more inclusive while carrying out the integration,” said a highly-placed source Wednesday on condition of anonymity.

The six-page document floated by the prime minister on Tuesday says that integration will be carried out into the Nepal Army, Armed Police Force, Nepal Police and National Investigation Department (national intelligence). The specific number of combatants to be integrated into a particular national security force will be determined at the highest political level.

“Other security forces - industrial, border, others - will be formed if need be to accommodate combatants aspiring to join the national security forces,” reads the plan of action obtained by myrepublica.com from a Nepali Congress leader.

It further says that all the combatants, 19,602 in total, will be divided into three broad categories -- politics, integration and rehabilitation, as per the combatants´ preferences, at the very outset of the process of management of Maoist army personnel. The combatants will have to choose one of the categories. The plan proposes to complete this process in 60 days, provided the technical team takes 10 minutes to interview one combatant.

Combatants who prefer to join politics will not be allowed to enjoy any rehabilitation package or financial incentive to be offered to those choosing rehabilitation in society.

But combatants who want rehabilitation in society will have to choose rehabilitation packages that include formal education, vocational training, skill-based training, employment (both at home and abroad) and small income generating businesses.

The plan will be under implementation soon after the Special Committee endorses it. Then the Maoists and the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) will have to ensure that all the combatants are present in their respective cantonments.

The plan proposes to complete the whole process of integration and rehabilitation in seven phases in 112 days (by April 30). The process will start with the dissemination of information to combatants, who will be provided counseling about their future. The plan has been designed to match the next tenure of UNMIN, which will be till April 30, said the source.

The plan also says that all weapons of the combatants will be assembled in containers on the 77th day from the plan coming into force, under UNMIN supervision, and will be destroyed the same day by mine action teams of the security forces.

Combatants who prefer to be integrated into national security forces will be screened in four stages and will have to pass each stage of screening. The screening will be carried out to see if they are fit to join the security force of their choice. The security agencies concerned will then conduct training for the combatants and recruit them as per their existing practice and standards.

The overdue process of management of Maoist combatants, which is at the center of the ongoing peace process, will be complete when the combatants selected for integration will be sent for training at the respective national security agency on the 112th day from the start of implementation of the plan.

Meanwhile, the Special Committee on Supervision, Integration and Rehabilitation is meeting Thursday morning to finalize the plan of action on integration and rehabilitation of the Maoist combatants.

Discharge of disqualified begins Thursday

The overdue process of discharge of disqualified Maoist combatants is ultimately beginning from the Sindhuli-based Dudhauli cantonments on Thursday.

The Maoists´ People´s Liberation Army is organizing a special ceremony at the cantonments on Thursday to mark the beginning of the discharge of 4,008 disqualified combatants who comprise minors and late recruits.

The United Nations in Nepal has readied all preparations for the process.

According to Robert Piper, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nepal, all the disqualified have already been provided with civilian dress and new identity cards.

There are 371 disqualified in the Dudhauli cantonments, according to a record of the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN). But government sources said that no more than 240 disqualified will be available for the discharge as the rest have already returned to their homes either long time before or in recent weeks.

"They [the disqualified] will parade in civil dress before they are discharged on Thursday," Piper, who was on the way to Sindhuli on Wednesday, told myrepublica.com over the phone.

As per the process of the discharge, the UN will drop the disqualified to the nearest bus stops. "Each combatant will be provided a transitional allowance amounting Rs 10, 000," said Piper.

As per the plan, the discharged will contact UN career counselors for rehabilitation packages that involve formal education up to Grade XII, vocational training, small business training and health sector packages. At the initial stage, the UN will have 12 such counselors, including 10 to be deployed outside Kathmandu. The UN has established toll free phones so that the discharged can easily contact the counselors.

"The discharge planned for Thursday marks a significant step in the peace process and has also opened the door for rehabilitation and integration of the qualified combatants," said Peace Minister Rakam Chemjong.

Maoist leader Chandra Prakash Khanal is representing the Maoist side in the discharge ceremony while Joint Secretary at Bishnu Nepal represents the government to witness the process. Piper will represent the UN at the program.