DDR camps deserted by most ex-fighters

Fewer than a quarter of the more than 24,000 ex-combatants who had surrendered their weapons before the hostilites that broke out in early May disrupted Sierra Leone’s DDR programme are still encamped, the National Committee for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (NCDDR) said. In its latest information bulletin, issued on 12 July, it said under 6,000 former fighters out of some 24,285 who had disarmed before the resumption of fighting between the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and pro-government forces, remained in three DDR camps. There are an estimated 45,000 combatants in Sierra Leone.