COLOMBO, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka, on Wednesday, announced a one-month general amnesty to soldiers who have deserted the armed forces to receive legal discharge from their service.
The Defence Ministry, in a statement said that the general amnesty period will be in force from Dec. 1 to Dec. 31.
According to statistics, so far there are 174 officers and 42,506 soldiers in the army, 26 officers and 6,133 sailors in the navy and 37 officers and 2,806 airmen in the air force considered as deserters or Absent Without Official Leave (AWOL).
Deserters who report to their respective service headquarters or regiments during this period will not be subjected to any punishments or detention. They can obtain their legal discharge after clearing all administrative requirements, the Ministry said.
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