MONUSCO changed mandate, abandoned Congolese

In November 2023, at the request and insistence of the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the UN peacekeeping mission in the country, MONUSCO, agreed on an accelerated withdraw.

The UN mission was established in November 1999. Operating for more than two decades, the mission has more than 20,000 troops, and an annual budget of more than USD 1billion. The mission is currently withdrawing, a process expected to be complete by June 2024.

However, the blue helmets’ withdraw comes with a lot of controversies. MONUSCO has been the most expensive peacekeeping mission in the UN’s history, despite decades of operations in eastern DRC, it has brought no positive change. Armed groups multiplied from about five to over 260, and civilians have been killed in their presence. The UN mission in DRC has constantly failed the Congolese.

Now, UN peacekeepers are withdrawing from DRC, at the peak of violence and leaving behind more chaos, that they helped create.

In April 2024, MONUSCO ceased operations in South Kivu as part of its disengagement plan. By June, the mission had completed the withdrawal and repatriation of 2,227 troops from South Kivu.

According to a source in the mission, MONUSCO reported to the UN Security Council that it had completely ceased all operations. But that was a lie. MONUSCO continued supporting the operations of the FARDC coalition. The Congolese army's coalition includes SADC Forces (SAMIDRC), the genocidal forces from Rwanda commonly known as FDLR, Wazalendo militias, European mercenaries, and Burundian Forces (FDNB), all battling against M23 rebels in eastern DRC.

Since May, the blue helmets openly deployed troops in Beni territory with an aim to help FARDC and SAMIDRC. They also provided  drone surveillance which helped Kinshasa to conduct deadly drone and fighter jet attacks, leading to deaths of innocent civilians.

The UN Mission in DRC was, first and foremost, supposed to protect civilians, a mandate the peacekeepers ignored as they took on another mission - fighting the M23 rebels, and killing civilians.

MONUSCO has taken the same mandate as SAMIDRC, which is solely fighting the M23 rebels just like Kinshasa wanted, completely disregarding the other militias that are sowing chaos in eastern DRC.