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The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has said it will take about 100 demobilised Rwandan soldiers to their country on Sunday to assess the situation there for themselves.
Hamadoun Toure, spokesman for the UN Mission (known as MONUC), told IRIN the former combatants of the rebel Front democratique pour la liberation du Rwanda (FDLR) would go to Kigali "to see the living conditions and plan a possible return home".
The group of 100 veteran soldiers from the former Rwandan army (ex-FAR), are part of some 1,750 former combatants who have been disarmed by the DRC government since September 2001. They are currently at the Kamina military camp in the DRC.
The ex-FAR and Interahamwe militia are largely held responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. They fled into neighbouring DRC when the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) swept to power.
The ex-soldiers will be accompanied by members of MONUC to provide them with security, Toure said.
On 30 July, the DRC and Rwanda signed a peace deal in South Africa which guaranteed the disarmament and repatriation of ex-FAR soldiers and Interahamwe militia fighters. In exchange, the Rwandan government promised to withdraw its forces from Congolese territory.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
