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BBC NewsDec 30, 2023
DRC: UN Says All Peacekeepers to Leave By Year's End
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The Facts
The UN mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) will fully withdraw by the end of December, ending 25 years of UN intervention in the Central African country. This was announced by the mission's head, Bintou Keita, in the capital Kinshasa on Saturday.
Keita confirmed that "MONUSCO will definitively leave the DRC no later than the end of 2024" adding that in the first of three withdrawal phases around 2K of 15K-strong forces will leave the eastern province of South Kivu by April. The UN troops will then withdraw from the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
It cannot be denied that MONUSCO struggled to ensure stability and protect the civilian population, but this is mainly due to the specific nature of UN missions. For example, UN forces are only allowed to use lethal force in self-defense or in defense of their mandate. Furthermore, African governments undermine the UN's efforts for various political reasons. Yet despite increasing pressure, UN missions continue to play a crucial role in countries such as the DRC. It's highly unlikely that Kinshasa will succ
Establishment-critical narrative
Since MONUSCO entered the DRC, the security situation in the east of this vast and enormously resource-rich country has steadily deteriorated. Given the utter failure of UN troops to fulfill their mandate in several African countries, one can't blame Africans for seeing them as an instrument of foreign interests managing conflicts rather than helping to end them. The UN troops' exit from the DRC is the latest example of African nations demanding control over their destiny, and this is the only path, albeit