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The head of the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) on Monday called for more international assistance to Sierra Leone to support the reintegration and rehabilitation of ex-combatants.
Oluyemi Adeniji told a high-level Canadian delegation visiting Sierra Leone that more than 37,000 ex-combatants had been disarmed since 18 May, a UN statement said. He said the ex-combatants were receiving re-insertion benefits "and those are not enough", the statement added.
The visiting delegation, headed by Lt-Gen Romeo Dallaire, the Special Advisor on War-Affected Children to the Canadian Minister for International Cooperation, is in the country to observe the ongoing disarmament of former soldiers.
Meanwhile, disarmament of former combatants in parts of eastern Sierra Leone has not yet resumed, Francis KaiKai, Executive Secretary of the National Committee for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (NCDDR) told IRIN on Wednesday.
"Moves are being made to restart it," he said.
"We know some of the former fighters are determined to disarm despite their leader's wishes that they don't. This lot are unhappy and say disarmament should not be hooked to political issues which can be discussed at the next tripartite meeting. We are giving them a couple of days," he said. The next tripartite meeting is slated for 13 December.
Disarmament failed to get underway more than a week ago in the diamond mining centre of Tongo Fields, held by the Revolutionary United front (RUF) in the eastern district of Kenema.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
