Kinshasa, 29 October 2009 - At the weekly MONUC press conference yesterday, Stabilization remains a big priority in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, as the issues to be considered include the return of displaced people and refugees, as well as the recent attacks of the FDLR rebels.
As MONUC encourages the voluntary return of these populations toward their homes, it remains attentive, along with local authorities, to the problems generated by these returns, especially land and property conflicts.
Reconciliation mechanisms
In order to avoid a viscous cycle of land and property conflicts, MONUC, UNHCR and the Ministry of the Interior for North Kivu has, during a recent meeting, discussed the subject with a view to finding a solution.
Mr. Kevin Kennedy, Director of MONUC’s Public Information section, said that at the end of the meeting, some outline solutions were proposed: notably the improvement of communication on the issue of refugees between the DRC government and neighboring countries; the establishment of local reconciliation committees foreseen by the agreements of 23 March; and the restoration of state authority in return zones in order to improve the protection of civilians.
Also, on the improvement of security in eastern DRC which is linked to the issues surrounding the repatriation of the FDLR rebels to Rwanda, Mr. Kennedy said that MONUC, through its DDRRR office, had achieved progress in this area.
MONUC repatriated 64 of these foreign combatants last week to Rwanda, along with 47 of their dependants, bringing the totals repatriated for the year to 1,695 combatants and 1,743 dependants, more than double the figures for the same period last year.
In relation to the security situation, the MONUC Military Spokesperson reported many incidents in several zones in eastern DRC last week. In North Kivu, incidents were reported between the FDLR and other armed groups; mostly acts of violence and harassment against civilians.
In the past week, MONUC prepared the redeployment of military units to the east, in particular the Kivu provinces. On 15 November next, a MONUC Pakistani Battalion of 857 will be redeployed from Ituri district to South Kivu. 95 percent of MONUC’s 18,636 are already deployed in eastern DRC.
Reinforcements continue to arrive
In support of MONUC’s mission of stabilization and security, and in accordance with UN Security Council resolution 1856 that authorizes an additional 3,000 troops for the mission, these additional reinforcements continue to arrive in the DRC.
A Bangladeshi battalion of 850 troops is already in the process of deploying here, while a company of 175 Bangladeshi engineers are expected to arrive by January 2010.
On 31 October next, 130 Jordanian special forces will also arrive in the DRC. They will be followed, on the 5, 9 and 12 of November by further Egyptian troops, in addition to 300 already deployed in the country, to form a battalion of 850 troops and a company of 150 special forces.