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Demobilised soldiers jobless

    JOHANNESBURG

    More than 100,000 demobilised Angolan soldiers are in desperate conditions, abandoned and without jobs, the agency supposed to look after their welfare has admitted. Antonio de Andrade, director general of the Institute for the Social and Professional Reintegration of former Soldiers (IRSEM), said it had only been possible to find jobs for less than 50,000 of the country's 150,000 demobilised soldiers. He said the rest had been left to their own devices, the state news agency ANGOP reported.

    Andrade said the 50,000 lucky veterans who have found employment were involved in agricultural, school and housing projects sponsored by the German Society for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and the European Union. The IRSEM chief said about 800 families of demobilised soldiers were in the process of being resettled in Ganda and Cubal districts of Benguela Province, where they would work on about 2,000 hectares of farmland.

    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

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