{"id":40413,"date":"2015-04-10T00:15:51","date_gmt":"2015-04-10T04:15:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=40413"},"modified":"2015-04-10T00:47:25","modified_gmt":"2015-04-10T04:47:25","slug":"life-is-still-a-battlefor-rehabilitated-ex-ltte-cadres-who-are-yet-unemployed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=40413","title":{"rendered":"Life is Still a “Battle” for Rehabilitated Ex-LTTE Cadres who are yet Unemployed"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Shanika Sriyananda<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018No matter how much time you have wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow\u2019 \u2013 the thought of the week is written on the green notice board at the Rehabilitation Commissioner General\u2019s Head Office at Nawala.<\/p>\n

The officials of this office have been able to seal off the past of over 12,000 former fighters of the LTTE who had wasted their time in the past and rehabilitate them to be peaceful souls who are now aspiring for a better tomorrow.<\/p>\n

But back at home after undergoing a year-long rehabilitation which helped them to brush up their hidden talents and skills, for many the road of life is still bumpy with many socio- economic hardships.<\/p>\n

With a high unemployment rate, social stigma, disabilities due to battle field injuries, poor educational qualifications and poor mental stability, they struggle to earn a decent living six years after the end of the 30-year-long war on terrorism. Finding a job has become their main problem.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Gopika Raviraj<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gopika Raviraj (not her real name), 22, is unemployed and depressed as she and her two young children have to depend on the earnings of her disabled husband, who works as a casual labourer.<\/p>\n

Gopika, a former child soldier married to a former combatant whom she met at the rehabilitation centre, has two young children aged three and five. Conscripted at the age of 15, she was dropped on the battlefield after a few weeks of weapon training. She says she fought not to kill anyone but for her own defence in fear of death.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no proper education. I didn\u2019t want to sit for my Ordinary Level exam at the rehabilitation centre. I followed a beauty culture course and like to start a small salon but have no money to invest. I applied for a bank loan but it was rejected,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Gopika is grateful to her husband for marrying her without a dowry. \u201cSome of my friends who were with me at the rehabilitation centre are still single as their parents don\u2019t have money or property to give as dowries. My husband didn\u2019t ask for a cent. He feeds us and looks after us well, but I can\u2019t be a burden to him any more as he is disabled due to a gunshot injury on the battlefield,\u201d Gopika says.<\/p>\n

According to a recent survey by the Bureau of the Commissioner General of Rehabilitation (BCGR), out of the total ex-combatants who have been reintegrated, over 22% are unemployed due to various reasons.
\nOver 11,000 ex-combatants were forcibly conscripted by the LTTE. Most of them were in their teens and had missed formal education. During the one-year rehabilitation, they were given vocational training and psychological rehabilitation.<\/p>\n

T. Malathi <\/strong><\/p>\n

T. Malathi (name changed) is a well-trained suicide cadre of the LTTE\u2019s Black Tiger Unit. Trained for years and having carried out two spy missions in Colombo, today she is a mother of two cute little girls.
\n\u201cI failed in both attempts as security was too tight in Colombo those days. I was in Kotahena. When the two missions were failed, the regional leader of the Black Tigers called me to Vavuniya. It was during the final months of the fighting in the north. While I was in Vavuniya I met my husband who is a three-wheeler driver,\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n

After the war ended in 2009, she voluntarily surrendered to the authorities. As she had identified herself as a Black Tiger, she had to spend two years in Boosa prison before entering the rehabilitation process.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know the whereabouts of my parents, the only one I knew was that three-wheeler driver, so I told the rehabilitation officers that I wanted to talk to him. They found him and he started coming to the rehabilitation centre. We fell in love and he married me after I was released from the centre. I leant sewing when I was in rehabilitation, now I earn a small income by undertaking some orders to support my husband,\u201d says Malathi, adding that she hopes to have a house of her own one day.<\/p>\n

Her husband\u2019s parents opposed him marrying Malathi as they came to know that she was a suicide cadre. \u201cThey asked me how a woman committed to die would become a good housewife and a mother, but the rehabilitation officials had convinced them, inviting them to some public awareness programs, to accept us when we are released. I realised the value of a human life and started loving myself and people around me when I was taking part in leadership programs,\u201d Malathi said, embracing her two girls.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe LTTE taught me to hate people but during rehabilitation I learnt to love people. This gave me hope for future,\u201d Malathi added.<\/p>\n

The ex-combatants were given vocational skills training \u2013 mechanical skills, information technology, agriculture, animal husbandry, food processing, handicrafts, carpentry and construction under the rehabilitation program while they are psychosocially supported through counselling and mentorship system to improve emotional resilience.<\/p>\n

Ravi Kumar<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ravi Kumar (54) got an appointment as a sworn translator in Kilinochchi on January this year. He served as a Sinhala teacher at the Sinhala Maha Vidyalaya Kilinochchi, the former administrative capital of the LTTE, and now teaches Sinhala at a private education institute.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was not directly involved with the LTTE but I was compelled to do Sinhala translations for them. When the war was over I volunteered to get rehabilitated to clear my name. At the rehabilitation centre, I worked as a clerk and also taught Sinhala to ex-combatants,\u201d Kumar, who is a father of three sons, says.<\/p>\n

He said as a teacher he has lots of connections with the rehabilitated ex-combatants and none of them want to get involved in politics or support any of the politicians but they need jobs to live peacefully. \u201cThey only look for jobs. Whoever offers them jobs anywhere in the country, they are ready to work to earn a living,\u201d he said, adding that some who have battle scars still face problems as they could be easily identified as ex-combatants.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome Sinhalese and Tamil people who still have fears about the LTTE are reluctant to offer them jobs. Earlier the female ex-combatants faced a problem of getting married as people had a perception that girls who were LTTE cadres were tough and couldn\u2019t be controlled when they were married. But now how people look at them has changed a lot and most of the female ex-combatants are married, having children and leading a good family life. Time will heal all wounds,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Counselling to cure<\/strong><\/p>\n

Working as a school counsellor for over 10-years, S. Pavanitharan has two years of experience as counsellor at the rehabilitation centre at Poonthottam, Vavuniya.<\/p>\n

He said counselling coupled with religious activities in the rehabilitation helped immensely to develop positive mentality among ex-combatants. \u201cThey have seen death from tender ages. Once they were taken into the LTTE, they had been constantly taught about the value of dying for the LTTE\u2019s cause. They have not seen and heard stories of living,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Pavanitharan said at the beginning it was a difficult task for the counsellors to tap their minds as they were not speaking due to shock. \u201cThese young girls and boys never thought that they would get a chance to live when fighting in fierce battle fields. We talked to them daily to help them develop positive thinking. We talked about family, values, ethics and their rights, but we never talked about their past. We did individual and group counselling throughout the year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

According to Pavanitharan, the counsellors faced challenges as most of them were ignorant about the world outside the north. \u201cThey were taught forcefully to think within the LTTE framework for nearly 30 years. They have seen only the LTTE, war and blood. But during counselling we taught them how to love their lives and dreaming for better future. We help them to set their own targets,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Citing the story of one of the ex-combatants, he said allowing them to talk during counselling sessions helped to cure their inner wounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI met an ex-combatant from Batticaloa who is married and having a son. He is partly paralysed due to a mortar attack during the battle and had no hopes for future. During the first session he unfolded his story from A to Z and started crying loud. He told me that it was the first time he had a chance to come out with his story and he felt there was someone to listen to his story. He said he didn\u2019t have hope for the future as he always knew that he would die in a battlefield soon,\u201d Pavanitharan said, adding that the ex-combatants with PTSD were exposed more to religious programs to heal their inner wounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also taught them, in group counselling, how it is important to live facing challenges rather than dying in a war,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said it was difficult to banish negative thoughts among the suicide cadres who were heavily brainwashed to take their own lives. \u201cBut continued counselling based on positive approaches helped to change their minds. Today, they never think about death. They want to live for themselves, their families and their children,\u201d Pavanitharan said.<\/p>\n

Many problems<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nimal Weerasekara, the Rehabilitation Officer of the Economic, Social and Welfare Coordinating Centre, Kilinochchi, said there were more than 3,000 rehabilitated ex-combatants in Kilinochchi and they still faced problems relating to land, employment, housing, obtaining birth certificates and social stigma.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmong all these issues, unemployment is the major problem for them. We helped some of them to get jobs. Most of them didn\u2019t have National Identity Cards as they don\u2019t have the required information like birthday, residential address and family details. We helped them to get NICs. We help them in providing legal aid and also to start self-employment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Weerasekara said that the majority of ex-combatants hoped that the Government would look after them for another two to three years until their lives are more stable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can give a 1,000% assurance that none of these girls and boys will take up arms again. They are living very peaceful happy lives as there is no war for them to die. If someone is trying to disrupt the peace, they will be the first to inform the Army. They just want jobs to earn a living,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:Daily FT<\/em><\/p>\n

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By Shanika Sriyananda \u2018No matter how much time you have wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow\u2019 \u2013 the thought of the week is written on the green notice board at the Rehabilitation Commissioner General\u2019s Head Office at Nawala. The officials of this office have been able to seal off the past …<\/p>\n

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