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Nepal child soldiers to be freed Nepal former child soldiers freed
(1 day later)
Thousands of former child soldiers held in Nepalese camps for Maoist rebels will start being freed on Thursday. Thousands of former Maoist child soldiers in Nepal have begun leaving camps for ex-rebels where they have been held since a 2006 peace accord.
The children have been confined to the UN-monitored camps with other ex-rebels since a 2006 peace deal that ended a 10-year Maoist insurgency. Some 200 young men and women were freed at a ceremony in central Nepal.
Their release is a key part of Nepal's peace process. The children have been in UN-monitored camps with other ex-rebels. The release is a key part of the peace process.
Several hundred children were due to be released following an official ceremony at a camp in Sindhuli district, in central Nepal, on Thursday. Some former Maoist rebels were to be integrated into the army but disagreement over how this should be done has led to political deadlock.
The former child soldiers are to be given the option of going to school, getting vocational training, or starting businesses. The Maoists won elections in 2008, but left the government last year in a row over their leader's attempt to fire the army chief. He had refused to allow the integration of former rebels into the army.
In total, almost 20,000 former Maoist rebels have been living in seven main camps in Nepal. 'Disqualified fighters'
The UN has identified about 3,000 as being under the age of 18. In total, almost 20,000 former Maoist rebels have been living in seven main camps in Nepal. They have been there since their 10-year insurgency against the government ended in a ceasefire in 2006.
'Emotional' The BBC's Joanna Jolly in Singhuli district says that the 200 Maoists who left the camp there were garlanded by dignitaries and discharged after a ceremony that included speeches and a meal of chicken, beans and rice.
Uncertain future of child soldiers
Those discharged were part of a group of about 4,000 Maoists classified as "disqualified fighters" by the UN because they were either under the age of 18 during the war or because they joined the army after the conflict ended.
The government originally said it wanted all the child soldiers to be released by the beginning of November.The government originally said it wanted all the child soldiers to be released by the beginning of November.
Gopal Pandey, the deputy commander of a camp in Dudhauli, some 125 miles (200km) south-west of Kathmandu, suggested that the children were upset about the prospect of leaving. But it says it now hopes to discharge the remaining "disqualified fighters" by the middle of next month.
They will be offered retraining or a chance to go to school.
The UK government is to provide an extra £2m ($3.2m) to help the UN provide education and skills training to those being released from the camps, the Department for International Development said in a statement.
'Emotional'
But Gopal Pandey, the deputy commander of a camp in Dudhauli, some 125 miles (200km) south-west of Kathmandu, said some of the children were upset about the prospect of leaving.
"They are all very emotional at having to leave the camps, but they all realise it is something that is necessary to keep the peace process alive," he told the Associated Press news agency."They are all very emotional at having to leave the camps, but they all realise it is something that is necessary to keep the peace process alive," he told the Associated Press news agency.
Nepal's rebels were meant to be integrated into the national army as part of the peace process, but the head of the army refused to do so. Many spoke of their sadness as they began the journey back to their villages.
The Maoists won elections in 2008, but left the government last year in a row over their leader's attempt to fire the army chief. "I am very sad to leave other colleagues with whom we stayed for so long," 22-year-old Laxmi Gautam told the Reuters news agency.
Others told Reuters they were proud that Nepal had finally become a republic.
"Without struggle, that would not have been possible. I am proud of it," Suhana Rana said.