MONUSCO repatriates 42 people from DRC to Rwanda
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Actualité.cd
MONUSCO facilitated the voluntary repatriation of 42 people from eastern DRC to Rwanda, including 10 FDLR members, eight members of associated armed groups and 24 dependants. The operation is part of the disarmament and reintegration programme, according to the UN mission.
MONUSCO facilitated the voluntary repatriation on Wednesday 28 October of 42 people from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Rwanda, including 10 members of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), eight members of associated armed groups and 24 dependants. The operation was conducted in coordination with the Congolese and Rwandan governments, according to MONUSCO.
The dependants include six women, 14 girls and four boys. The return is part of MONUSCO’s disarmament, demobilisation, repatriation, reintegration and resettlement (DDRRR) programme, which also supports the Congolese Disarmament, Demobilisation, Community Recovery and Stabilisation Programme (P-DDRCS).
The UN mission had already transferred 120 FDLR members and their dependants to Rwanda on 8 September, in an operation announced on 10 September. The armed group remains at the centre of security tensions between Kinshasa and Kigali and is among the commitments in the Washington agreement on the disarmament of the FDLR in the DRC.
The new repatriation follows Kinshasa’s request on 4 October for MONUSCO to be involved in the disarmament of the FDLR, as the DRC calls for the implementation of the Washington and Doha commitments. The issue of FDLR disarmament thus remains linked to diplomatic discussions between the two countries.
