As Sri Lanka scrambles to address the issue of former armed forces personnel joining combat in foreign conflicts, the lack of regulations and legislative safeguards to prevent such issues from victimising vulnerable Sri Lankans, and potentially dragging the island nation into a foreign policy crisis.
Yesterday, the President moved to dispatch a team of senior officials including the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, and a yet-unnamed former ‘Ambassador’ to Russia, to look into the Sri Lankans who have joined the Russian military in the Ukrainian war front. Earlier the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, said that he had discussed the issue with the Russian Ambassador to Sri Lanka, and sought a list of personnel serving in Russian ranks, and of those who are injured and killed. Sri Lanka is seeking to repatriate its dead and injured from the conflict. It is interesting that Sri Lanka has not officially stated what action they have taken about Sri Lankan combatants serving with the Ukrainian forces? It remains unclear if the delegation to Moscow will also call on Kiev?
The State Minister of Defence Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon said earlier this week that at least 16 Sri Lankan military veterans have been killed fighting in the war between Russia and Ukraine. The Government opened an inquiry last week into the recruitment of its citizens for the conflict that has since identified the participation of 288 retired soldiers from the island nation, he said. “We have confirmed information about 16 who have been killed," Tennakoon said. Several persons including a retired senior military officer and an owner/operator of a foreign employment agency have been arrested in the ongoing inquiry.
The contemporary Sri Lankan mercenary affair is a symptom of a bigger problem, and one that has not been addressed diligently and dutifully by every government thus far. Despite fighting through three insurgencies and a complex counter-terrorism campaign, the State failed those who served by not having an effective demobilisation strategy, and a post service reintegration plan. One has to question what the Ministry of Defence, to whom a lion’s share of Sri Lankan taxpayers funds have been provided over the last 15 years, post conflict, have done thus far, with such glaring shortcomings now in the spotlight. Perhaps, it is timely that the Government updated existing legislation which governs the armed forces, to add post service regulations for Sri Lanka personnel. There are other countries which have introduced similar regulations for their servicemen and women.
Recently, Australia introduced new regulations which restrict or prohibit ex-Australian services personnel from working for foreign governments and or passing on specialised skills, or teaching tactics to foreign forces, without prior authorisation. Such concepts of foreign work authorisation may form the basis for law which can be tailored for Sri Lanka’s needs. Similarly, in the United Kingdom, British courts are empowered to have jurisdiction to prosecute British citizens for their actions overseas, including in foreign conflicts.
One option is to have foreign travel/work authorisation checklist which could be applicable to discharged personnel, and regulations prohibiting them from joining the ranks of a foreign military or a government for a period following their exit from the armed forces. Similar authorisation can also be used to keep an eye on Sri Lankans joining Private Military Companies (PMCs), foreign armed groups, or designated terrorist organisations. Further, those who have had specialised skills training, or are privy to strategies/tactics that have national security implications, can be barred from working for forging governments or PMCs. Some countries maintain a database of specialists, whose skill sets are sought by organised criminal groups, both local and transnational, and terrorist/extremist groups.
Sri Lanka has hundreds of thousands of veterans, many of whom have little, or no secondary skill set when they leave the forces. Given that the bulk of the Sri Lankan armed forces complete their service period around the age of 40–45 (22 years of service), many try to find employment once they are discharged. The recent economic crisis has pushed many to make hard choices to get by, thus making them vulnerable to be recruited for various occupations both local and overseas, which are not in their, nor the best interest of Sri Lanka.