15,000 tri-force absentees respond to amnesty; State Minister says no extension
COLOMBO – At least 15,000 Sri Lanka tri-forces absentees have come forward to obtain amnesty, responding to a one-month general amnesty call, which ends on May 20.
Defence Minister Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon said the month-long amnesty call which when into effect on April 20, will not be extended beyond May 20. The amnesty enables tri-forces absentees to receive an official discharge from their respective services, on condition they settle any financial obligations or amounts due.
“So far, around 15,000 have come forward to obtain the amnesty,” Tennakoon told reporters in Colombo, adding that there are around 26,000 absentees in total from the armed forces.
Though the number deserting the forces was on par with other countries, Tennakoon noted that in recent months there had been a new trend where more deserters were seeking to rejoin the tri-forces than deserting, something never seen before.
Pointing out that more state resources have been spent on producing military personnel, he said all military personnel have to abide by special military laws and that action s will be taken against those who have not reported under such laws.
Sri Lanka has already started ‘right-sizing’ its forces, seeking to bring down the military carder to 100,000 by 2030 from the current 208,000, and the shrink navy and air forces carders to 30,000 and 20,000 respectively from the current numbers.
Sri Lanka’s 2024 defence budget of 423 billion rupees has been reduced to 6.5% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024 compared to last year’s 7.5%.
The 2024 budget also announced voluntary retirement for military personnel who had completed 18 years of service.
-economynext.com
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