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18,400 deserters respond to amnesty offer; hunt on for another 18,400
View(s):By Sandun Jayawardana
Military deserters who failed to surrender during the amnesty that ended this week will be tracked down and arrested in a countrywide operation involving the military and the police, officials said.
The move to launch the countrywide manhunt comes after almost half of the armed forces personnel who were listed as being Absent Without Leave (AWOL) surrendered during the month-long General Amnesty period.
The amnesty, which ran from June 13 to July 12, was announced with the aim of providing an opportunity for deserters from the armed forces to obtain a legal discharge from service. According to figures released by the Defence Ministry, 18,417 service personnel who had been AWOL surrendered during the amnesty. These included 16,920 from the Army, 868 from the Navy and 629 from the Air Force.
The amnesty was offered to account for 25,000 personnel from the Army, 7,137 from the Navy and 4,717 from the Air Force. They had gone AWOL before December 31, 2015.
Accordingly, about 18,400 military deserters are still unaccounted for.
Military Spokesman Jayanath Jayaweera told the Sunday Times that by Friday, the Army had already formally discharged about 13,000 deserters who reported back and the others would be discharged by July 20.
According to the Defence Ministry, AWOL personnel are being discharged under five categories: (a) AWOL for more than three months; (b) AWOL for less than three months but more than 21 days; (c) AWOL officers; (d) AWOL due to involvement in criminal actions; and (e) AWOL due to injuries suffered in terrorist attacks.
When asked about those military personnel who went AWOL due to their involvement in criminal activities, Brigadier Jayaweera said their cases would be assessed on an individual basis and if there was evidence, authorities would take a decision to refer their cases to either the Military Police or the Police.
“Until then, the military will keep such persons in its custody,” he said.
He, however, added there had been no reports so far of any of those who surrendered under the latest amnesty being involved in criminal activity.
The Navy, meanwhile, said the process of discharging the 868 of its personnel who reported back was currently ongoing.
The Air Force said of the 629 personnel who reported back, 230 had been AWOL from January 1 to December 31, 2015. The total number of Air Force desertion last year was 510.
The SLAF had already formally discharged all its personnel who had been reported AWOL prior to 2009. Those who surrendered during this recent amnesty were now undergoing a clearing process prior to their discharge.