From rebellion to reintegration and usefulness
Shanika SRIYANANDA
Despite all accusations thrown by some segments of the international
community and other forces against Sri Lanka, rehabilitation of
ex-Tigers of the now defunct LTTE is undoubtedly Sri Lanka’s success
story as there are no major crimes reported to show the involvement of
ex-Tigers since 2009, said the chief of the Rehabilitation of ex-cadres.
It is no easy task for the authorities to turn the fighters of one of
the most ruthless outfits into non-violent persons. With the war against
the LTTE coming to an end in May 2009, nearly 12,000 ex-Tigers
surrendered to the military.
But, within three-years of the rehabilitation process, which gave
them self-respect, and taught them to value life and vocational training
to enable them to stand on their own feet, over 11,000 ex-LTTErs are now
back with their families.
However, in an interview with Daily News, the Commissioner General of
Rehabilitation, Brigadier Darshana Hettiarachchi, while explaining the
success of rehabilitating ex-Tigers, lamented the lack of financial
assistance from the Tamil Diaspora to provide better post rehabilitation
care, for them to be economically sound.
He said that those youths were talented and they needed a helping
hand to start their own livelihoods and also to continue education,
which many of them were denied due to LTTE’s forced recruitment.
“The government has implemented several programmes to help them but
it is not enough. I personally think it is time for the Tamils who live
abroad to invest in a meaningful way to make their future better”, he
said.
The Chief of the Rehabilitation Authority also said that the Tamil
diaspora could play a vital role in rebuilding their lives, but
unfortunately, nothing significant is coming from them in the healing
process, including in rebuilding the nation and rehabilitation of ex-LTTE
cadres.
According to Brig. Hettiarachchi there are less than 500 ex-LTTE
cadres, who were referred by the courts, undergoing rehabilitation at
the moment. He said they would be in the rehabilitation process for a
year and declined to give a specific time frame to release them all.
Excerpts of interview:
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Q: Once you complete rehabilitating
all the ex-LTTE cadres, what would be your task?
A: Nearly 11,000 ex-LTTErs
are reunited with their families. They live peaceful lives. But our task
will not end there. We have already designed a monitoring system to
evaluate their post-rehabilitation process, to restore their livelihood
and explore employment opportunities for them. The motive is to ensure
that they lead normal lives after the reintegration and also to get
their contribution towards the country’s development.
Q: There were some crimes that were
committed by the released ex-cadres. What are your comments about the
success of the rehabilitation process?
Commissioner General of Rehabilitation, Brigadier
Darshana Hettiarachchi |
A: As I said before, there
are 11,000 ex-cadres back with their families. Some tried to tarnish the
outcome of this success story by highlighting these incidents. We don’t
deny their involvement in a few incidents. But, when we take it in
numbers these incidents are negligible as there are only a handful of
them engaged in minor crimes like theft. They are reported in the East.
But, thousands of others are now leading very peaceful lives with their
families. There are no other major incidents to show their involvement
for the last three-years. Who can say that is not a success story? I am
confident that no force with vested interests or hidden agendas can
mislead them to take up arms again as they want to live peacefully and
also rebuild their lives. Sri Lanka’s story of rehabilitation of
ex-terrorists would be the best model for other countries which face
similar conflicts.
Q: According to your assessment, what
were the major factors that contributed to successful rehabilitation?
A: Yes, it is the well
planned methods that we used in the process, in which we had
concentrated on some vital aspects like to give them facilities for
meditation, sports, educational and vocational training. Once they
complete the rehabilitation process based on six components, they are
mentally and physically strong to select vocational training of their
choice. While educating them on theoretical aspects, they will be
motivated to mingle with society, to be kind to people and to respect
and accommodate ideas of other people. We had to hold special
counselling programmes for them mainly to change their mindsets and
ideology, which had been inflicted by the LTTE to brainwash them for its
cause. What we taught them was the value of love, respect and peace
instead of taking revenge. We moulded thousands of youths train to kill
others and themselves to be messengers of peace.
Q: Though they are back in society as
free citizens, they struggle to earn a living. What is the livelihood
restoration support offered to them?
A: We are doing a lot,
formally and informally through our personal contacts to find them job
opportunities. The government has initiated some loan schemes to help
them to start self-employment projects. This programme will be
introduced by the end of next month. Then we will start giving them
loans. We have plans to introduce several programmes to assist them in
income generation, but we need the support of the public as the
government alone can’t shoulder the task. This is one area that the
Tamil diaspora can come into play. They have a huge responsibility to
help these misguided youths to correct their lives. As I said earlier, a
loan scheme was introduced exclusively for the ex- LTTErs who have
reintegrated and aspired to start a business on their own.
The government has already allocated Rs. 300 million to grant loans
with a maximum of Rs. 250,000 at only four percent interest. They will
be given a special pay back period of four years to pay the first
installment.
Another step is exploring foreign employment opportunities for them.
We have already negotiated with the Foreign Employment Bureau to explore
employment opportunities, especially in the Middle East and South Korea.
Under another new project, they will be facilitated to purchase
three-wheelers without a down payment. It is now at discussion stages.
Here, while earning, they can re-pay the installments.
Q: They are given vocational training
during their stay at the rehabilitation centres. Do you think they will
have job opportunities in the relevant sectors?
A: These youths are given
the option to select the vocational training that they are interested
in. Once they complete the training, they are awarded the National
Vocational Qualification Level I, II and III certificates, which are
well-recognised locally and internationally according to their
performances.
Even if they want to find jobs abroad, they will easily get
employment opportunities as they have completed these courses. We have
given maximum opportunities to enhance their capabilities and to find
suitable jobs to suit their talent through the vocational training they
received under the rehabilitation process. Many earn a living from which
they learnt during the rehabilitation process. At the moment discussions
are going on with the construction firms especially with the firms
involved in constructing 50,000 houses in the North and East to employ
these youths as construction workers. They have talents in these newly
learnt fields and most of them are doing well.
Q: There are forces which try to
destabilize the prevailing peaceful situation. How confident are you
that there is no possibility to tap these ex-LTTE cadres, who are back
in society, to take up arms?
A: The government is fully
confident that over 90 percent of these youths will not allow any force
to mislead them as they have now realized they can’t achieve anything
through violence. They value peaceful lives with their families,
educating their children and laying foundations for the future of their
children than fighting for a separate land for them. The efforts to
influence them to take up arms will be futile as these youths are aware
that they were ‘used’ by the LTTE and its supporters for their own
agendas.
These youths had experienced the bitterness of one of the world’s
deadly battles and now they want their children to live in a terror free
world. They don’t want their children to be grabbed by terrorists like
the way they were recruited by the LTTE. Basically they want their
children to see the world outside.
On the other hand, in the absence of LTTE’s terror, they know there
are many opportunities for them to have a better future. The government
is confident that the Tamil diaspora or any other force attempting to
drag them or mislead them would be futile. We have well-designed
counselling programmes where they are given instructions to change their
mindset. During these programmes we help them to inculcate human
qualities in them. Counselling has brought about an impact on their
lives. We are confident that they will think twice before they take a
decision to go against people.
Q: These youths missed the link with
soldiers for nearly 30 years but the rehabilitation of ex-cadres was
mainly handled by soldiers. How effective was this to change their image
of a soldier?
A: The Security Forces are
engaged in handling rehabilitation in all the centres. The officers are
selected and given counselling programmes to facilitate them to handle
issues effectively prior to their appointments. Both soldiers and the
ex-cadres, are in the prime of their youth, know their pulses better.
This worked well in rehabilitation. These youths, who were trained to
kill and live in terror, are more disciplined now as they are in touch
with a disciplined and well trained soldiers. It is evident from their
physical appearance.
This change is significant. Today, these officers, whom they thought
as ‘evils’ have become best friends of the rehabilitated youth. They
maintain a good rapport with these officers, even after their release.
We all get calls from them, who just want to say ‘hello’ to us.
Q: To what extent would the
familiarization tours to the South help to change their minds?
A: Over 90 percent of
these youths were born during the LTTE control and missed the
opportunity to interact with the Southerners. They only believed in the
wrong picture painted in their minds by the LTTE about the Sinhalese and
the Security Forces. The LTTE’s propaganda made these youth revengeful
and thought Sinhalese grab their land to make Sinhala colonies.
Therefore, they were motivated to fight against the military to protect
their land. But, when they met people from the South and experienced
their warmth, hospitality and help, they were fully convinced.
The main intention of arranging these trips was to revamp the
interaction between them. On the other hand, they also can see the
development taking place in the South in par with their areas. Then they
will realize there is equality in treating all the communities in the
country.
Yes, these trips to the South have made a great impact on their
lives, to change their attitude.
Q: Though they have reintegrated into
society as disciplined youth, their own people are reluctant to accept
them due to their past records. Isn’t it the responsibility of the
Rehabilitation Authority to create a safe environment for them?
A: Yes, our responsibility
doesn’t end after reintegration. We conduct awareness programmes for
villagers, religious dignitaries in the North and the East to welcome
them back to their villages. We tell them about the importance of
accommodating them back into the society by forgiving them as they have
been misled by the LTTE.
We have received many complaints in this regards and in parallel to
the rehabilitation, we conducted these awareness programmes. This was a
serious issue as these youth were controlling them at one time. They
were recruiting people and killing their loved ones. Still they hate
them and the villagers who are resettled don’t want them to be in their
villages any more. To make the environment safe for rehabilitated youths
when they are integrated into the society, this system has been
effective and most of the rehabilitated ex-cadre are leading normal
lives in their areas today. |