4685 former combatants rehabilitated: Govt

Commissioner General of Rehabilitation Brigadier Sudantha Ranasinghe said that since the defeat of the LTTE, 4685 ex-combatants have been rehabilitated and reintegrated into society so far.

The Sri Lankan military defeated the LTTE in May 2009. Since then Government detained thousands of ex-combatants inclusive of child soldiers and took measures to rehabilitate them. Several hundreds of child soldiers were given the opportunity to complete their secondary education. In August, around 500 such students sat the GCE Advanced Level examination and later were handed over to their parents.

“We have handed over 4685 ex-combatants to their parents after rehabilitation. Six thousand more are to be rehabilitated,” Brigadier Sudantha Ranasinghe told news.lk

The latest batch of 498, more than half of them women, were released in the northern town of Vavuniya on Friday.

The released former rebels have gone through vocational and English language training. Private sector firms — mostly in the apparel export sector have shown an interest to recruit them. (www.news.lk)