The Secretary General of the United Nations recently announced that they would soon embark on an “accelerated withdrawal” of troops under the United Nations Stabilisation Mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO). The UN force was first deployed in 1999, then known as the UN Organisation Mission in the DR Congo (MONUC), initially deployed to enforce the so-called Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement before it was expanded to MONUSCO after a decade. ALSO READ: UN troops in DR Congo ‘set to be withdrawn’ With over 17,000 peacekeepers, MONUSCO is the largest and most expensive UN peacekeeping operation globally. The sad bit however is that the multinational force will leave the vast country probably worse than when it was first deployed almost 25 years ago, and dozens of billions of dollars later. Chaos still reigns especially in the eastern part of the country, which has coincidentally hosted almost the entire force for over two decades. Millions of citizens are either internally displaced or have fled to neighbouring countries including Rwanda, while the region probably has the highest concentration of militia groups. By the UN’s own account, eastern DR Congo has over 100 militia groups, both domestic and foreign. ALSO READ: DR Congo: Three killed as rioters torch UN convoy Far from bringing peace to the restive region, the peacekeepers in this force have been linked to all manner of vices including being involved in illicit mineral trade and more serious ones like trading arms for minerals. The plug is being pulled on the force amidst a security crisis that escalated last year, with the resurgence of an insurrection by M23, an armed group that was launched by former members of the Congolese national army after a number of decades-long grievances remained unresolved by their government. MONUSCO has largely remained an onlooker in the M23 saga, where Congolese leaders have been brazenly attacking innocent civilians, especially Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese, putting the country on the brink of a full-scale genocide. ALSO READ: DR Congo militia massacre 45 in Ituri As the curtains fall on this peacekeeping force, it is important that the UN apparatus take time off to reflect deeply on where things went wrong on this mission and take lessons for future missions to other countries.
