201 former child soldiers sent home in Nepal

According to Friday's The Kathmandu Post, they boarded shuttles on stand-by that dropped them at a neighboring town from where they would get on passenger buses and head for their homesteads, formally ending "military life" and entering civilian life.

The disqualified combatants were among those recruited after the ceasefire code of conduct was signed in Nepal on May 25, 2006.

Dhudhauli camp was home to 372 disqualified combatants who failed the verification process carried out by the United Nations Mission in Nepal(UNMIN) in December 2007. The remaining 171 didn't attend the discharge ceremony as they had already left the cantonments.

Upon discharge, each combatant was provided with an identity card by the UN, which would make them eligible to choose from a range of rehabilitation packages, including educational support, micro and small enterprise development skills and vocational training provided by the government with the support of the UN.

Each combatant was provided with a new pair of clothes and 22,000 Nepali rupees (some 297.2 U.S. dollars) as traveling expense, 10,000 rupees (some 135 dollars) by the UN and 12,000 rupees (some162 dollars) by the UCPN-M military wing--prior to their departure.