A risky return for ex-combatants into communities

This briefing by the Institute for Security Studies examines the failures of government-led rehabilitation and reintegration programmes for defectors from violent extremist groups in Africa, highlighting how human rights abuses and a lack of transparency drive defectors away from state processes and toward civil society or direct community return.

• Government-led rehabilitation and reintegration processes for defectors in Nigeria, Somalia, and Kenya are hindered by human rights abuses, including torture and extrajudicial killings of suspects by security forces. Some reports indicate that these abuses occur within the very rehabilitation centres designed to protect and reintegrate former combatants.
• A lack of transparency and the prolonged detention of suspects in Nigeria and Kenya have created distrust in state amnesty programmes. This leads defectors from groups such as Boko Haram and al-Shabaab to avoid government processes and return directly to their communities, shifting the burden of reintegration onto local civil society organisations.
• Material support provided to defectors as part of reintegration efforts has caused community backlash and increased hostility. In Kenya, providing motorcycles to al-Shabaab defectors was viewed as 'favouritism' by locals, and in Cameroon, the distribution of livestock like goats and sheep to Boko Haram militants provoked similar negative reactions.
• Civil society organisations are often better positioned than the state to manage demobilisation and reintegration due to their neutrality and existing trust within communities. For example, in Nigeria, a civil society organisation assisted the government in designing the psychosocial support and trauma counselling for the 'Operation Safe Corridor' programme.
• Failure by states to ensure security forces respect human rights during rehabilitation increases the risk that former combatants will either refuse to defect or develop hostility toward the government, which is cited as a primary driver for joining groups like al-Shabaab and Boko Haram.

APA

van Zyl, I. (n.d.). A risky return for ex-combatants into communities. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/a-risky-return-for-ex-combatants-into-communities

Chicago

van Zyl, Isel. A risky return for ex-combatants into communities. Institute for Security Studies, n.d. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/a-risky-return-for-ex-combatants-into-communities.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=van Zyl |first1=Isel |title=A risky return for ex-combatants into communities |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |url=https://issafrica.org/iss-today/a-risky-return-for-ex-combatants-into-communities |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{vanzylndrisky, author = {van Zyl, Isel}, title = {{A risky return for ex-combatants into communities}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.org/iss-today/a-risky-return-for-ex-combatants-into-communities}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }