UN PEACEKEEPERS ABANDONING GOMA RESIDENTS?

UN PEACEKEEPERS ABANDONING GOMA RESIDENTS?

With Goma in east DRC now surrounded by Rwanda-backed rebels after the fall of Sake on Thursday, videos emerged online of what‘s claimed to be UN troops leaving the region. It’s left people furious that supposed peacekeepers are leaving a city of 2 million (plus the influx of people fleeing the surrounding towns and villages) in the lurch.

The main objective of UN operations has been to protect Congolese civilians from armed groups and to support government efforts to stabilise eastern Congo. However, there have been growing protests against the mission over its abject failure to secure those goals. There are now fears that the M23 could capture Goma again, as they did in 2012.

For three decades, the people of Congo have endured unspeakable violence, including death, displacement, sexual violence, hunger and disease.

The ongoing conflict in this mineral-rich country has led to one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, displacing over 7-million people. The persistent violence, involving more than 120 armed groups in the eastern region, has devastated the lives of many Congolese who bear the brunt of this turmoil.

Video credits: @freecongo_kollekti, @focuscongo

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