Problem of military deserters persists in Sri Lanka

 Sri Lanka military has offered another amnesty to the Army deserters and have given them the opportunity to retire from the service.
Military spokesman Major General Prasad Samarasinghe urged the deserters to come to their regiment headquarters with their military and National Identity cards and retire from service officially between June 07 and 30.

Major General Samarasinghe said that a unit has been established until 30th June in the vicinity of the Bodirukkarama Viharaya, Army Cantonment, Panagoda to facilitate Army deserters to obtain their release legally.
Currently there are around 50,000 Army deserters in the country. Recently 2,000 such deserters have handed themselves over to the authorities.
The problem of the Army deserters persists despite repeated offers for amnesty causing imbalance in the society. The deserters face difficulties in finding employment and occasionally resort to violence using their military training. Some deserters are believed to have turned into underworld goons.