The Lord’s Resistance Army has waged a brutal campaign to establish a theocracy in Uganda, abducting and recruiting thousands of young people. The role and experience of young people in the rebel army, however, and the task of reintegrating them into society, is not as straightforward as it may seem.

A report from the London School of Economics, UK, assesses the work of reception centres established to assist formerly abducted people who have served in the Ugandan rebel outfit, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). These formerly abducted people have either escaped from the LRA, or been captured by the Ugandan army.

Testimonies from formerly abducted people in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) challenge assumptions about the crisis in northern Uganda. The role of children in perpetuating the conflict has been exaggerated. Large numbers have suffered at the hands of the LRA, but many more have been forced to grow up in IDP camps where they have also been vulnerable to violence and disease. The role of adults in the LRA insurgency is underreported: under a third of reported abductions were of children.

People who had been abducted in the past, are in constant fear of being recaptured by the LRA or abused by relatives and neighbours. But many talk positively of their experience. The term ‘abduction’ itself wrongly implies that those who have been with the LRA had no power to make decisions for themselves. The authors also assert that the focus of aid agencies and the media on ‘child mothers’ – girls given to LRA commanders as wives – is disproportionate. While some have suffered, others say they are keen to be reunited with their ‘husbands’, and there is little evidence that the LRA has indiscriminately raped women.

 When captured by the army formerly abducted people are supposed to be quickly transferred to a reception centre, told about amnesty procedures and given psycho-social counselling and skills training prior to being reunited with their families. In practice, however:

• Many remain for weeks in military custody and may come under pressure to join the army or the anti-LRA militia.
• Most are not registered by the Amnesty Commission.
• Counselling is provided by people without professional training.
• Formerly abducted people complain about being treated patronisingly and taught skills suitable for children, not young adults.
• When they leave the centres there is usually no follow-up.

With peace in Uganda a possibility, the authors call on the authorities and the humanitarian community not to make assumptions about what has happened in northern Uganda. There is a need to:

• provide more resources to the Amnesty Commission
• end under-age recruitment into the government-sponsored militia
• ensure trauma therapy is provided by trained staff
• encourage peer support groups
• assist all young women in acute need, not just those who have spent time with the LRA
• rapidly dismantle IDP camps or officially recognise them as permanent peri-urban centres that need to be provided with adequate services.

Source(s):
‘A Hard Homecoming: Lessons Learned From The Reception Center Process In Northern Uganda. An Independent Study’, Management Systems International, by Tim Allen and Mareike Schomerus, 2006 (PDF) Full document.

Funded by: United States Agency for International Development (USAID); United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

id21 Research Highlight: 29 March 2007

Further Information:
Tim Allen
Crisis States Research Centre
Room U610
London School of Economics
Houghton Street
London WC2A 2AE, UK

Tel: +44 (0)20 7849 4631
Fax: +44 (0)20 7955 6421
Contact the contributor: t.allen@lse.ac.uk

Crisis States Programme, London School of Economics, UK

Other related links:
'Different paths to peace and justice in northern Uganda'

'Can education promote peace in northern Uganda?'

Topic guide on Conflict from the Governance and Social Development Resource Centre

A Strategy for Ending Northern Uganda’s Crisis, Briefing paper from the International Crisis Group