Maoists return to camps demanding better living conditions

Ravi, a young Maoist soldier, was so desperate to leave the camp where he had been confined for the past two months that he ran away. He was one of more than 2,000 fighters, including 150 women, who fled their camp in the cantonment of Chitwan, 300km south of the capital, Kathmandu, last week in protest at the government’s neglect. They sought food and shelter in nearby villages.

Since the signing of a historic truce between the Maoists and seven national parties in November 2006 to end the decade-long armed conflict, combatants have been restricted to certain areas as part of the demobilisation process.

“The PLA [People’s Liberation Army, the military Maoist wing] soldiers are still suffering from a lack of enough food and decent housing and live in absolutely pathetic conditions,” said Ravi.

The Maoists accuse the government of failing to provide them with enough support, despite receiving foreign funding.

Ravi returned to his camp on Sunday evening after the rebel leader, Prachanda, said he would pressurise the government to meet their humanitarian needs. “We’re back in the camps to respect the peace truce but the government has to make sure that we don’t suffer again,” said Ravi.

Soldiers are still suffering from a lack of enough food and decent housing and live in absolutely pathetic conditions.

On Monday, the government said it would give the Maoists US$700,000 for another six months of food, shelter and a daily allowance of $1 for the 30,000 combatants registered at the seven main cantonment sites in eastern and western parts of the country.

United Nations officials said that by leaving their cantonments Maoists had violated the arms management agreement. Under the peace deal, Maoist combatants were to remain within their cantonments after registering and disarming, while the government would supply rations.

“This development is of grave concern: such departures are a clear breach of the Agreement on Monitoring of the Management of Arms and Armies,” said Ian Martin, head of the UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN), which is supervising the arms management process.

Photo: Naresh Newar/IRIN

A view of one of the Maoist cantonment sites in Surkhet district, 700 km west of the capital

UNMIN said the Maoist commanders were obliged to ensure their combatants return to the camps without delay.
Although all the soldiers who left their cantonment sites have now returned, they have threatened to walk out again if the government fails to improve humanitarian support for them.

“The government was the one who violated the agreement by failing to provide the necessary support for our soldiers,” said the senior Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai. He rejected allegations that his party had seriously breached the peace truce by allowing the Maoist combatants to walk out of the camps and enter civilian areas.

Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula said on Sunday that the incident had caused grave concern to the government. But “we will ensure that top priority is given to the issues raised by the Maoist soldiers”, he said in a statement.

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