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ABSTRACT
Based on 30 life history interviews with former members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), this article analyses the particular challenges ex-combatants with disabilities face when returning to civilian lives. Moreover, it uses an intersectional approach to explore how disability intersects with gender and geographic location to generate specific patterns of marginalisation for different groups of disabled ex-combatants. Findings demonstrate the lack of attention paid to the specific needs of disabled ex-combatants by post-conflict policies which, combined with cumbersome procedures and favouritism in the selection of beneficiaries, have left ex-combatants dependent on family networks for livelihood assistance. This dependency exacerbates prejudices against and the social isolation of disabled ex-combatants and detrimentally affects their self-esteem. Furthermore, the article shows how disability and gender intersect to generate additional forms of discrimination resulting from increased social stigma, patriarchal attitudes and the exposure to different forms of abuse, as well as how differences in terms of communal support network, the density of ex-combatant populations and political attitudes generate spatial variation in patterns of social and economic marginalisation.
Acknowledgement
I would like to thank Alejandro Milcíades Peña, Lorenzo Bosi and the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on previous versions of this article.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. Interview female ex-combatant 5.
2. Interview male ex-combatant 9.
3. Lamichhane, ʽSocial Inclusion of People with Disabilitiesʼ; Lord and Stein, ʽPeacebuilding and Reintegrating Ex-combatants with Disabilitiesʼ; Rivas Velarde et al., ʽSocial Participation and Inclusionʼ.
4. Blanchet, Girois et al., ʽPhysical Rehabilitation in Post-conflict Settingsʼ; Crock, Hart et al., ʽWar, Law and Disabilityʼ.
5. Annamma et al., ʽDis/ability critical Race Studiesʼ; Grech and Soldatic, ʽDisability in the Global Southʼ.
6. Subedi, Combatants to Civilians; Torjesen, ʻTowards a Theory of Ex-combatant Reintegrationʼ.
7. Bowd and Özerdem, ʻHow to assess Social Reintegration of Ex-combatantsʼ; United Nations, ʻIntegrated Disarmament Demobilisation and Reintegration Standards (IDDRS)ʼ.
8. Muggah, ʽNo Magic Bulletʼ.
9. Torjesen, ʻTowards a Theory of Ex-combatant Reintegrationʼ, 2.
10. Schöb, ʻDisarming, Demobilising and Reintegrating Whom?ʼ; Torjesen, ʻTowards a Theory of Ex-combatant Reintegrationʼ.
11. See. among others, Annan, ʽCivil War, Reintegration, and Genderʼ; Luna, ʽEveryday Realities of Reintegrationʼ; McKay and Mazurana, Where are the Girls?; Wessells, ʽReintegration of Child Soldiersʼ.
12. See, among others, Höglund, ʻViolence and the Peace Process in Sri Lankaʼ; Thiranagama, ʻClaiming the Stateʼ.
13. Friedman, ʻRemnants of a Checkered Pastʼ; Krishnan, ʼThe Transition of Teenage Girlsʼ.
14. Bowd and Özerdem, ʻHow to assess Social Reintegration of Ex-combatantsʼ; Subedi, Combatants to Civilians.
15. Waldman, ʻGolden surrenderʼ?
16. Torjesen, ʻTowards a Theory of Ex-combatant Reintegrationʼ, 2.
17. Bjørgo and Horgan, Leaving Terrorism Behind.
18. Viterna, Women in War.
19. Bosi, ʻContextualizing the Biographical Outcomesʼ.
20. Despite the valid concerns mentioned by scholars, I consider the term reintegration as best suited to refer to my object of study: the trajectories ex-combatants follow after they have left an armed group and resettled in their pre-war or ‘new’ communities. While the term disengagement can include this period, it is more often used to analyse why ex-combatants decide to leave the armed group in the first place.
21. Torjesen, ʻTowards a Theory of Ex-combatant Reintegrationʼ.
22. Subedi, Combatants to Civilians.
23. Ibid.
24. Karamé, ʽReintegration and the Relevance of Social Relationsʼ; Podder, ʽFrom Recruitment to Reintegrationʼ.
25. Özerdem, ‘A Re-conceptualisation of Ex-Combatant Reintegrationʼ.
26. Viterna, Women in War.
27. Miriyagalla, ‘Socio-economic Reintegrationʼ; Subedi, Combatants to Civilians.
28. Kaplan and Nussio, ‘Community Counts‘.
29. McMullin, ʻIntegration or Separation?ʼ
30. Höglund and Söderberg Kovacs, ʻBeyond the Absence of Warʼ.
31. Bowd and Özerdem, ʻHow to assess Social Reintegration of Ex-combatantsʼ.
32. See, among others, Billingsley, ʻIntersectionality as Localityʼ; Luna, ʽEveryday Realities of Reintegrationʼ; MacKenzie, ʻSecuritization and Desecuritizationʼ; McKay, ʽReconstructing fragile Livesʼ.
33. McKay and Mazurana, Where are the Girls?
34. Ensor, ʽParticipation under Fireʼ.
35. Boutron, ʽWoman at Warʼ; Sideris, ʻWar, Gender and Cultureʼ; Viterna, Women in War.
36. Wessells, ʽReintegration of Child Soldiersʼ.
37. Stark et al., ʽA grounded Approachʼ.
38. Lamichhane, ʽSocial Inclusion of People with Disabilitiesʼ; Rivas Velarde et al., ʽSocial Participation and Inclusionʼ; Santos‐Zingale and McColl, ʽDisability and Participation in Post-conflict Situationsʼ.
39. Hawkins et al, ʽIdentifying contextual Influences of Community Reintegrationʼ. See also Griffin and Stein, ʽSelf-perception of Disabilityʼ.
40. Podder, ʽFrom Recruitment to Reintegrationʼ.
41. Gartrell, ʽLocked in Spaceʼ.
42. Crenshaw, ʻMapping the Marginsʼ; Warner, ʻA Best Practices Guideʼ; Yuval-Davis, ʻIntersectionality and Feminist Politicsʼ.
43. Yuval-Davis, ʻIntersectionality and Feminist Politicsʼ, 203.
44. Warner, ʻA best Practices Guideʼ, 456.
45. Yuval-Davis, ʻIntersectionality and Feminist Politicsʼ.
46. Warner, ʻA best Practices Guideʼ, 459.
47. Yuval-Davis, ʻIntersectionality and Feminist Politicsʼ, 198.
48. Hancock, Intersectionality.
49. Staunæs, ʻWhere have all the Subjects gone?ʼ.
50. Blee, Inside Organised Racism; Kalyvas, The Logic of Violence in Civil War; Viterna, Women in War.
51. 10 interviews joined in the first phase of the war (1983 − 1990), 13 in the second phase (1991 − 1998) and 7 in the third phase (1999 − 2008).
52. Bosi, ʻContextualizing the Biographical Outcomes of Provisional IRA Former Activists: A Structure-agency Dynamicʼ; Della Porta, ʻLife Historiesʼ.
53. Malthaner, ʽFieldwork in the Context of Violent Conflictʼ, 175.
54. Blee, Inside organised Racism; Della Porta, ʻLife Historiesʼ.
55. Charmaz, ʽGrounded Theoryʼ.
56. Imtiyaz and Stavis, ʻEthno-political Conflict in Sri Lankaʼ.
57. Bloom, ʻEthnic Conflict, State Terror and Suicide Bombing in Sri Lankaʼ.
58. DeVotta, ʻThe Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelamʼ.
59. Bloom, ʻEthnic Conflict, State Terror and Suicide Bombing in Sri Lankaʼ.
60. LTTE, ʻSocialist Tamil Eelam. Political programme of the LTTEʼ.
61. Hellmann-Rajanayagam, ʻFemale Warrior, Martyrs and Suicide Attackersʼ, 9.
62. Alison, ʻCogs in the Wheel?ʼ.
63. DeVotta, ʻThe Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelamʼ.
64. Terpstra and Frerks, ʻRebel Governance and Legitimacyʼ.
65. DeVotta, ʻThe Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelamʼ.
66. Terpstra and Frerks, ʻRebel Governance and Legitimacyʼ, 298.
67. Höglund, ʻViolence and the Peace Process in Sri Lankaʼ.
68. Thiranagama, ʻClaiming the Stateʼ.
69. Lilja, ʻTrapping Constituents or Winning Hearts and Minds?ʼ.
70. Thiranagama, ʻClaiming the Stateʼ.
71. McRaith, ʻArbitrary Detention in Post-conflict Sri Lankaʼ.
72. Ibid.; Friedman, ʻRemnants of a Checkered Pastʼ.
73. Krishnan, ʼThe Transition of Teenage Girlsʼ.
74. Expert Interview political activist, Jaffna, July 2018; Expert interview social worker, Batticaloa, June 2018; De Mel, ʻPlaying Disabilityʼ; Krishnan, ʼThe Transition of Teenage Girlsʼ; Miriyagalla, ‘Socio-economic Reintegration of Former LTTE Combatants in Sri Lankaʼ.
75. United Nations, ʽUN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilitiesʼ.
76. Williams and Mavin, ʽDisability as Constructed Differenceʼ; Oliver, Understanding Disability.
77. Interview male ex-combatant 20.
78. During the war, the LTTE run a programme of disability rehabilitation that provided a monthly payment of Rs9000 (US$70) to families of combatants with disabilities.
79. De Mel, ʻPlaying Disability, performing Genderʼ, 101.
80. Interview male ex-combatant 22.
81. See note 33.
82. Hellmann-Rajanayagam, ʻFemale Warrior, Martyrs and Suicide Attackersʼ.
83. Interview female ex-combatant 5.
84. Expert interview social worker, Jaffna, July 2018. See also Hellmann-Rajanayagam, ʻFemale Warrior, Martyrs and Suicide Attackersʼ.
85. Expert interview social worker, Batticaloa, July 2018; See also International Crisis Group, ʻSri Lanka`s Conflict affected Womenʼ.
86. Interview female ex-combatant 16.
87. Rates of alcoholism, drug use, suicide, domestic and societal violence have increased significantly after the end of the conflict. For more details see International Crisis Group, ʽSri Lanka`s War affected Womenʼ.
88. Interview female ex-combatant 13.
89. Krishnan, ʼThe Transition of Teenage Girlsʼ.
90. Interview female-ex-combatant 7. The majority of LTTE cadres came from the East of Sri Lanka as the high level of poverty and the lack of education in the Eastern part made it a particularly fruitful recruitment ground for the LTTE. Consequentially, the density of ex-combatants in the East after the war is particularly high.
91. Interview female-ex-combatant 17.
92. R. Murray, ʻScarred by Sri Lanka’s War with Tamil Tigers, Female Ex-fighters build New Livesʼ. The Christian Science Monitor, 29 October 2010.
93. Expert interview local researcher, Jaffna, June 2018; Interview male ex-combatant 4.
94. Interview female ex-combatant 5; Expert interview local researcher, Jaffna, June 2018.
95. Berghs and Nawaf Kabbara, ʽDisabled People in Conflicts and Warsʼ; Lamichhane, ʽSocial Inclusion of People with Disabilitiesʼ; Lord and Stein, ʽPeacebuilding and Reintegrating Ex-combatants with Disabilities.ʼ
96. There are very few government programmes offering livelihood assistance. A loan scheme provides individuals with up to 25,000 rupees (US$192) but most ex-combatants who benefitted from the programme regretted it after, as loans were insufficient to make ends meet and most ex-combatants would prefer to work wage employed instead of running a business. Miriyagalla, ‘Socio-economic Reintegration of Former LTTE Combatantsʼ. Moreover, one of my respondents’ claims that interest and instalments rates were changed arbitrarily, thereby leaving many ex-combatants indebted. Interview male ex-combatant 2.
97. Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights, ʽNational Action Planʼ.
98. Miriyagalla, ‘Socio-economic Reintegration of Former LTTE Combatantsʼ.
99. Interview male ex-combatant 2.
100. Several benefits are available from the Ministry of Social Empowerment, Welfare and Kandyan Heritage for persons with disabilities by way of financial and other aids. For example, a monthly payment of 3000 rupees (US$16) is given to persons with disabilities in economic need, a further 250,000 rupees (US$1317) is granted for construction of a house as well as aids paid by way of a lump sum for self-employment assistance, educational assistance, medical assistance and medicine and travelling expenses.
101. Interview male ex-combatant 1.
102. Interview male ex-combatant 13.
103. International Crisis Group, ʽSri Lanka`s War affected Womenʼ. Expert interview social worker, Batticaloa, June 2018.
104. Brinkerhoff, Capacity Development in Fragile States; Lamichhane, ʽSocial Inclusion of People with Disabilities.ʼ
105. Interview male ex-combatant 9.
106. DeVotta, ʻThe Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelamʼ.
107. Interview female ex-combatant 18.
108. MacKenzie, ʻSecuritization and Desecuritizationʼ, 252.
109. Interview male ex-combatants 28.
110. Interviews male ex-combatants 24, 20, 28. Expert interview political activist, Jaffna, July 2018.
111. Interview male ex-combatant 22, 2.
112. Mitra and Hanass-Hancock, ʽLivelihoods and Disabilityʼ.
113. Liyanage, ʽSociocultural Construction of Disability in Sri Lankaʼ.
114. Interviews male ex-combatants 24, 2, 4; See also A. Perera, ʻSri Lanka`s Rehabilitated Ex-combatants struggle to adjustʼ. The New Humanitarian, 2 July 2014.
115. Interview male ex-combatant 4.
116. DeVotta, ʻThe Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Lost Quest for Separatism in Sri Lankaʼ.
117. Miriyagalla, ʻSocio-economic Reintegration of Former LTTE Combatantsʼ.
118. Expert interview local researcher, Batticaloa, June 2018.
119. Interview male ex-combatant 4.
120. Lamichhane, ʽSocial Inclusion of People with Disabilitiesʼ.
121. Hanass-Hancock and Casale, ʽAn Exploratory Modelʼ.
122. Cited in Krishnan, ʼThe Transition of Teenage Girlsʼ, 140.
123. Expert interview social worker, Batticaloa, July 2018. See also International Crisis Group, ʽSri Lanka`s Conflict affected Womenʼ.
124. WWDA, ʽResource Manual on Violence against Women with Disabilitiesʼ.
125. Interview female ex-combatants 13, 17.
126. Interview female ex-combatants 5.
127. Interview female ex-combatant 16.
128. Höglund and Söderberg Kovacs, ʻBeyond the Absence of Warʼ; Thiranagama, ʽClaiming the Stateʼ.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Larissa Daria Meier
Larissa Daria Meier is a PhD candidate at the Department for Political Science and Sociology, Scuola Normale Superiore, Italy. Her main research interests include political violence, forms of power and domination and processes of meaning making.