(Security): UN official urges "Responsible" Withdrawal from the DRC

 

A top UN official said on Wednesday, June 7, 2023, that peacekeepers should withdraw from the DRC as "quickly as possible" yet responsibly.

Speaking in the capital, Kinshasa, during a visit to the DRC, the UN official added that the Congolese state should step up its own response to the armed groups that plague the east of the country.

The UN official also acknowledged the frustration with the peacekeepers as the levels of insecurity remain alarmingly high in the country, particularly in the east.

"Everyone has been concerned by the violence that occurred during recent demonstrations. Many of our interlocutors are concerned about hate speech, xenophobic rhetoric, misogynistic rhetoric and discourse based on ethnic confrontation, and of course it is essential to put an end to such rhetoric", concluded the Jean-Pierre Lacroix, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations.

The UN peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo, known as MONUSCO, is one of the largest and costliest in the world, with an annual budget of around $1 billion. It has been present in the country since 1999.

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