Since 2002, over 50,000 fighters, including child soldiers, from Colombia's illegal armed groups have laid down their arms.
Of the total demobilised, 32,000 soldiers are from right-wing paramilitary groups who handed in their weapons following a controversial peace deal with the government, known as the Justice and Peace Law. The rest include around 18,000 fighters from the countryÂ?s two main leftist guerrilla groups, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) and the smaller rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN).
Many ex-combatants are involved in government-run reintegration programmes that give each participant a monthly stipend of around $250. In return, participants must attend school and or skills training and counselling workshops.
In this interview, Hans Rouw, a researcher at IKV Pax Christi, a Dutch non-governmental organisation that focuses on conflict resolution, spoke about ColombiaÂ?s disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) process and the challenges facing the government in rehabilitating former soldiers into civilian life. He spoke to Anastasia Moloney, AlertNet's correspondent in Bogota.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
