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2018 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

3. The Nexus Between Reintegration of Ex-combatants and Reconciliation in Nepal: A Social Capital Approach

Authors : D. B. Subedi, Bert Jenkins

Published in: Reconciliation in Conflict-Affected Communities

Publisher: Springer Singapore

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Abstract

Although the reintegration of ex-combatants and reconciliation were the key elements of peacebuilding in Nepal, they were carried out in total isolation from each other. While the process to reintegrate ex-combatants is arguably over, post-war reconciliation has not begun yet. In this context, analysing the nexus between social reintegration of ex-combatants and post-conflict reconciliation, this chapter explores the implication of reintegration in reconciliation and vice versa. Focusing on social capital as a desired element of peacebuilding, this argument proposes that the lack of post-conflict reconciliation has led to the ex-combatants’ inability to accumulate social capital, which would better facilitate their social reintegration.

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Footnotes
1
Cilliers et al. (2016) show that reconcliation helps to improve soceital relationships and social capital, but this comes with a cost: reconciliation has also significant impact on individual well-being, particularly in mental health.
 
2
The minors (child soldiers) born after May 25, 1988 and the combatants recruited after the ceasefire agreement on May 25, 2006 are termed as VMLRs. This category is not verified as qualified combatants therefore they were discharged from the cantonment in 2010. The United National Inter-Agency Rehabilitation Program (UNIRP) has been implemented to support the rehabilitation of the VMLRs.
 
3
Author interview with a Human Rights activist and a conflict victim in Kathmandu, November 2015.
 
4
Interview with a male human rights activist in Dhangadi, December 2011, and a lawyer in Ghorahi, Dang, February, 2012.
 
5
Interview with a journalist in Kathmandu, December 2012.
 
6
Interview with a male civil society leader in Kathmandu, December 2012.
 
7
Interview with a male lawyer, Ghorahi, February 2013.
 
8
The study also found that Maoist mobilised many combatants in other than their own villages; as a result not all combatants were reportedly identified as perpetrators in their villages.
 
9
Interview with a journalist, Ghorahi, Dang, February 2013.
 
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Metadata
Title
The Nexus Between Reintegration of Ex-combatants and Reconciliation in Nepal: A Social Capital Approach
Authors
D. B. Subedi
Bert Jenkins
Copyright Year
2018
Publisher
Springer Singapore
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6800-3_3