Sunday in Kathmandu and apart from the banana carrying bikesalesman and a few other eager entrepreneurs in the streets in the tourist area Thamel, Kathmandu is closed. I grab The Himalayan Times, one of the English dailies that are on offer and read that '161 disqualified PLA fighters are already out'. PLA is the Maoists Peoples Liberation Army who since the peace agreement 2006 have had x-combatants in a UN guarded camp Dudhouli south east of Kathmandu. The disqualified fighters are mainly those who joined or were encouraged or otherwise recruited into the maoist army when they were still underage, some of them as young as 16.
According to UNMIN 4000 combattants fell into the catagory of being disqualified and last thursday the outgoing combatants were given the identity card given by the UN after withdrawing their PLA identity cards. These ID's in turn will provide package aid depending on the combatant. A set of clothes in a bag, 10, 000 rupees($150)was givien by the Division Commander from the government peace fund and an additional 12, 000 rupees will be given from a fund collected from the combatants who are still to saty in the cantonement.
There has been hope in the camp that there would be an opportunity to be join or be incooperated into the Nepali Army but there seem to no chance of this. The thorny issue of what to to with a former group of combatants that have fought in an armed conflict against the state is a complicated issue, as is the integration plan offered by the Nepali state.Vocational and eduacational offers are available but not always viable as many hail far from an educational facility to match the offer.
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