DRC: the FRPI disarmament process no longer progresses

Aveba, Ituri Province, DR Congo: the commander of the Bangladeshi contingent of MONUSCO, alongside the chief of operations, monitors the deployment of troops in the region of BUKIRINGI-AVEBA during operation "UPPERCUT" against the militia FRPI, Photo MONUSCO / Force

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At the end of February, the Patriotic Resistance Force of Ituri (FRPI) signed a peace agreement described as “historic” with the Congolese government.

Monusco and various partners are witnesses, and welcome progress in the peace process in the region.

Since then, the process has not progressed and the fear of seeing these militiamen re-mobilize begins to take shape. 

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With our correspondent in Kinshasa,

Patient Ligodi 

With the peace agreement, a DDR (disarmament, demobilization and reintegration) timetable was adopted.

And the start of disarmament was set for early May.

Since then, almost nothing has been done.

The armed militiamen are still located in Azita, less than 10 kilometers from the city of Gety, in the territory of Irumu.

Some sources speak of several hundred militiamen who have deserted the place because, they say, the money and food provided at the beginning of the year by the government have not arrived since June.

For its part, MONUSCO claims to have set up the sites to accommodate the militiamen, but the UN mission first requires disarmament to be able to also set up the reintegration process.

Government sources accuse the FRPI of having presented new demands that were not in the agreement.

Faced with this situation, Kinshasa is now considering more comprehensive discussions to take into account all the armed groups that are rife in the region.

The inter-institutional mission that arrived this Thursday in Ituri will perhaps allow progress to be made on conflict resolution. 

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