Uganda: Former abducted girls fear they will be reclaimed as wives by former LRA
By Gladys Oroma of The Monitor
The following interview was published in Ugandan newspaper The Monitor on June 2, 2008 and does not necessarily reflect the views of the BBC WST.
Gulu, Uganda, June 2008 -- Formerly abducted girls in northern Uganda are worried that former LRA rebel commanders will want to reclaim them as wives.
Gulu, Northern Uganda. February 2008.
Photo©Julia Crawford.
A report entitled Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration by the Justice and Reconciliation Project together with Quaker Peace and Social Witness, an NGO, says that a number of formerly abducted girls are worried that the former rebel commanders will want to reclaim them as wives once they return home.
Dr Erin Baines, one of the researchers, said during their discussion with the former abductees, one girl said that much as she will be happy if peace returns to northern Uganda and the LRA return to civilian life, she is worried about the fate of the girls.
‘The fear among former abducted girls is that their former husbands will be tempted to reclaim them once they are reunited with civilians,” she said.
An earlier report by the justice and reconciliation project found that about 59 percent of young mothers have knowledge that their LRA husbands are still alive and at large. But almost all the girls stated that they are not interested in reuniting with their husbands.
Dr Baines said the community also criticized the use of some former abducted girls to lure back the rebels. She said that there were complaints from some communities that children who come back from the bush were reportedly picked up and taken without their parents consent and now the parents have no knowledge of the girls’ whereabouts.