Kinshasa, March 16, 2009 - Mr. Alan Doss, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in the DRC, is pleased with the clear increase in the number of voluntary repatriation of combatants of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), and the their dependents during the second week of March 2009.

Indeed, shortly after joint DRC/Rwanda operations against the FDLR, that is to say, during the first week of March, MONUC's Disarmament, Demobilisation, Repatriation, Resettlement and Reintegration (DDRRR) section recorded a substantial reduction in the number of repatriations of FDLR combatants and dependents via its programme.

From 1-7 March 2009, only 28 people of which six were ex combatants were repatriated to Rwanda. From 8-14 March, this figure increased to 87 people including 35 combatants, that is to say five times more than the previous week.

These results mean that 1,438 FDLR combatants and dependents have been repatriated via MONUC's DDRRR programme since 1 January 2009: 585 combatants and 853 dependents.

Furthermore, since the beginning of the year, MONUC has transferred 401 civilians to UN Office of the High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), which repatriated 4,279 civilians to Rwanda. From 1 January to 14 March 2009, the United Nations thus assisted 5,717 Rwandans to return home.

In addition, in the wake of the joint operation of the Congolese and Ugandan armies against the rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), MONUC's DDRRR team based in Dungu is ready to receive combatants of this armed group who wish to disarm and return to their country of origin.

Among the recently received candidates in Dungu by MONUC but also by UNICEF, 7 minors have been received, including six of Central African Republic nationality and a Sudanese woman who testified to being abducted and forcibly recruited by the LRA.

MONUC, UNICEF, UNHCR and their partners are currently organising the repatriation of these minors to their countries of origin, for family reunification.

Four adults of Central African Republic nationality also presented themselves recently to MONUC's DDRRR team in Dungu, including a civilian associate of LRA leader Joseph Kony as well as a family member close to his assistant, Okot Odhiambo.

MONUC again launches an appeal to the foreign combatants who remain in the DRC to seize the chance which is given to them to return to their countries peacefully and in dignity, via its DDRRR programme.