TOP UN ENVOY DEPLORES RAID ON CONGOLESE VILLAGE BY RWANDAN REBELS

TOP UN ENVOY DEPLORES RAID ON CONGOLESE VILLAGE BY RWANDAN REBELS
New York, May 11 2009 3:00PM
The top United Nations envoy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has condemned the raid carried out by Rwandan rebels on a village in the north-eastern part of the country, which sent residents fleeing into the nearby bush.

Alan Doss, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Special Representative and head of the UN peacekeeping mission in the country (MONUC), said the attack shows once again that the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwandan (FDLR) rebels are "outlaws."

According to a news release issued by <"http://monuc.unmissions.org/">MONUC, the rebels raided the north-eastern village of Butolonga on the night of 8 May, firing guns and burning houses. Around 131 houses were burned, and two Congolese soldiers were killed.

UN peacekeepers dispatched to the scene found the village empty as residents had fled into a nearby bush. They are only now returning to their homes, the Mission noted.

The ethnic Hutu rebel FDLR have recently been carrying out retaliatory attacks against civilians after being targeted by a joint Congolese and Rwandan military offensive. The group has been operating in eastern DRC since the 1994 genocide of Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (<"http://ochaonline.un.org/">OCHA) says an estimated 100,000 people in the eastern province of South Kivu have been displaced by fear of armed groups since the beginning of the year.

The FDLR and other Rwandan militias have also been a key factor in the resurgence of violence in North Kivu province, where another 100,000 civilians have been uprooted by fighting in the past two months, in addition to the many hundreds of thousands previously displaced.
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DR CONGO: APPEAL TO RWANDAN FIGHTERS TO RETURN HOME IS WORKING, UN SAYS

DR CONGO: APPEAL TO RWANDAN FIGHTERS TO RETURN HOME IS WORKING, UN SAYS
New York, Mar 10 2009 3:00PM

The appeal to Rwandan rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to return home is having a positive impact on peace and security in the strife-torn area, the United Nations' top envoy there said today.

Alan Doss, Special Representative of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, cites the additional 335 Rwandan nationals who agreed to be returned to Rwanda since the start of this month.

There has also been a slow but steady flow of combatants leaving the ranks of the ethnic Hutu militia known as the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR), which has been the target of a joint military operation conducted by Rwanda and the DRC, Mr. Doss added.

"These surrenders, which are being recorded every day, are proof that our message of disarmament and return in dignity is continuing to be heard. We encourage other FDLR troops to follow the same path," he said.

The ex-combatants surrender to joint patrols of the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC) and the DRC Armed Forces (FARDC), while civilians are repatriated by the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

The voluntary disarmament, demobilization, repatriation, reintegration and rehabilitation (DDRRR) programme for the ex-militia is managed by MONUC.

The FDLR and other Rwandan militias have been a key factor in the resurgence of violence last August in North Kivu province, where some 250,000 civilians have been uprooted by fighting.
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