30 01 14 UN concerned about growing displacement of people in DR Congo’s Katanga province

More
than 600 homes in 11 villages have been destroyed since October, a dramatic
increase in the last two years, according to the UN Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon’s Special Representative for the DRC, Martin Kobler, said today that he
was “extremely concerned” by the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in
the southern province.

“All
armed groups must stop their activities and allow humanitarian access to the
main victims of this tragedy, the civilian populations” urged Mr. Kobler, who is
also the head of the UN Mission in the country (MONUSCO).

The
Mission today reported that most of the attacks in the region are perpetrated by
Mayi-Mayi Katanga, one of the rebel groups known to operate in the
country.

Fighting
in the DRC between the Government and rebels – including the M23 who were
defeated by the national army with UN support last month – the Allied Democratic
Forces (ADF) and others, has displaced 2.9 million people, OCHA has
reported.

The
DRC has been torn apart by civil wars and factional fighting since its
independence in 1960, but with the support of a series of UN missions, a measure
of stability has been restored to much of the vast country over the past
decade.

But
fighting between the Government and a variety of rebel and sectarian groups has
continued to devastate the eastern regions, particularly North and South Kivu
provinces.

In
March, the Security Council authorized the deployment of an intervention brigade
within MONUSCO, based in North Kivu province with a total of 3,069 peacekeepers,
to carry out targeted offensive operations, with or without FARDC, against armed
groups threatening peace in that part of the country.

Mr.
Ban, his Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region, Mary Robinson, and Mr. Kobler
have stressed the importance of a political solution to address the underlying
causes of violence in the region. The Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework
for the DRC and the Region was signed by 11 nations last February, and has since
been nicknamed the “framework of hope