Attention!

Desertion in the Sri Lankan Army is a serious issue for the island’s security. As of October 2003, there were 49,143 deserters, including 623 officers, in the island; this constitutes one-third of the Sri Lankan Army’s total strength.. What makes a soldier desert? Is this related to the ethnic conflict? What are its implications? What are the steps being taken by the government to contain desertion and its implications?

I came, I saw, I deserted …

            Desertion is as old as the Sri Lankan Army. Averaging 10 per year, it shot up since Eelam War III started in 1995. This does not mean that desertions are directly linked to the ethnic conflict; more desertions were reported during the ongoing ceasefire compared to the days of intense violence. Fear of life and the stress during conflict cannot be ignored, but monetary inducement is a major factor. A deserter can earn much more using the ‘power that flows from the barrel of his gun’ than serving in the Army under difficult conditions. The affluent life style of previous deserters has an effect on serving regulars.  A recent study by Peradeniya University identifies other factors here like poor leadership, enlistment of unsuitable officers, bad administration, insufficient training, lack of a strategy to retain the cadres, family and personal problems for desertions. Even the Navy and Air Force face desertions, but these are numerically insignificant compared to the Army; however, the other two services have better facilities to offer their serving men.

I do hereby commit crime

A significant implication of desertion is the phenomenal increase in crime, especially in central and southern Sri Lanka.  Since the deserters are trained in warfare they are preferred by underworld criminal gangs for extortions, abductions, kidnappings for ransom, murders and robberies. Deserters are also sought after due to their possession of sophisticated weapons and knowledge of the loopholes in laws and the means to evade it. Rival gangs also hire deserters to settle scores and demarcate their areas of operation. Thus one finds the ‘brothers in arms’ fighting on opposite sides of rival gangs.

            Army deserters are also used by the leading political parties during elections for intimidation and rigging. An increase in the number of election-related violent incidents is not unrelated to the increase in desertions. While the political parties require deserters to augment their muscle power, the deserters, in turn, need political patronage to continue as fugitives.. For this reason this issue has not been given adequate attention by successive political leaderships.. Thus, desertion has increased the proliferation of sophisticated arms, but also spiraling violence in society.

March on

To address this issue seriously it is vital to screen the candidates properly at the time of recruitment. This is important because the desertion pattern shows that nearly 67 percent of the deserters do so immediately after their basic training; 12 percent after five or six years and the rest within 10 to 12 years of their joining service. There need not be any desperation in increasing numbers, as this policy backfires in larger numbers of desertions. Most importantly, no fresh recruitment should be undertaken without rectifying the obtaining administrative and infrastructural lacunas..

To bring the deserters back to service the government has made an amnesty offer, but in vain. The option of issuing discharge certificates is also being pursued, which has only elicited a partial response. The deserters involved with criminal gangs continue to be elusive. There is a view that, if employing deserters is legalized, the resort to crime by them would come down.  But, that be tantamount to legalizing desertion itself.. What is the guarantee that those fugitives who had deserted to make more money will accept this legal offer?  Since most deserters lack technical skills (unless they are from the technical services) it is difficult to obtain a gainful employment. Even if they posses marketable skills, given the criminal image of deserters it is difficult for them to get them any kind of job.

While addressing the cause for desertions, no leniency should be shown to criminal deserters. The laws governing possession of weapons and organized crime should be strengthened, which are currently very weak. Budget allocations to the Army should be augmented to meet the requirements of serving soldiers. The concerned commanding officers should be made responsible for desertions in their respective battalion, as the military maxim goes, “There are no bad soldiers; only bad officers.”