The Reintegration of Maoist Ex-Combatants in Nepal

In Nepal, a decade-long insurgency, led by the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) continued till 2006, claimed more than 13,000 lives, and displaced thousands of people. Arguing that Nepal has moved forward in reintegrating its former combatants, this paper points out that this is a task that many other countries have failed to carry out successfully. It demonstrates that the country's approach to reintegration was unique and unorthodox, but, in some ways, effective. Nevertheless, there were problems and some of them persist, especially to do with social reintegration, in particular, gender and caste relations. The process of reintegration is far from complete, given that the former combatants left their cantonments only in 2012.