The Reintegration of Child Soldiers in Nepal and Sri Lanka: Navigating post conflict identities in civilian life.

Abstract

Reintegration remains an on-going process for former child soldiers as they undergo multiple transitions from their child to adult, civilian lives. It is crucial to understand how children experience the child soldier identity in relation to complex social and political situations that are present in post conflict settings. The child soldier identity is under theorised and often poorly understood. Child soldiers often have a much more fluid and complex identity experience depending upon the local, national context. This thesis provides an analysis of reintegration in the context of national post conflict politics by examining the longer-term reintegration experiences of former girl and boy child soldiers, who were recruited to two former armed groups, the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-M), and the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE), Sri Lanka. This research illustrates the complexities of reintegration as experienced by former child soldiers by focusing on their agency and lived experience. The thesis employs a theoretical approach that draws on Sociological based studies of Childhood in International Relations, and a methodology that used case studies based on interviews with former child soldiers conducted through fieldwork.

The significance of the empirical analysis shows that the child soldier's reintegration experience is more than the individual transition from a military to civilian identity. Through the reintegration process, the child soldier identity takes on a political meaning in post conflict settings where national led efforts to address issues of peace, justice, and human rights are politicised and often contentious. A three level analysis approach is applied to the two case studies: i) individual experiences of the child soldier identity, ii) family and community relationships, and iii) state-level political analysis.

The Nepalese case finds that former child soldiers occupy and negotiate multiple identities across an international and local divide. The child soldier identity imposed upon them by the UN during the formal rehabilitation program disempowered them by creating social distinctions between them, their former Maoist senior comrades, and their families and communities. However, in Nepal's politicised transitional justice context former child soldiers have created an alternative justice narrative through the work of the Peace Envisioners organisation. The organisation is building international linkages by utilising the international child soldier identity as a strategy to pressure the national government and former CPN-M senior leadership to address social justice and legal concerns.

In Sri Lanka, the child soldier identity was used by the state to build political legitimacy through state led child soldier rehabilitation efforts. The state's protection of former child soldiers is contingent upon them performing a national identity based on loyalty and commitment to the state. Sri Lanka's militarised setting continues to generate fear and insecurity in the lives of former child soldiers, their families and communities ultimately limiting their reintegration outcomes. This is demonstrated by an analysis of the militarised, masculine state and the continued subjugation of the Tamil population, including through a gendered lens.

This thesis generates new insights into the connection between child soldier reintegration outcomes and the national political setting regarding the legacy of conflict, peace, and justice. The legacy of conflict intersects with their reintegration experiences to determine their life outcomes, their ability to rebuild relationships and social status within the family and community more broadly, and their position as citizens in relation to state. The thesis contributes a richer understanding of child soldiers' post conflict lives to support future policy and advocacy initiatives that empower youth in conflict-affected contexts. Show more