No one in Goma, in the troubled east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is surprised at the imminent departure of the Ukrainian contingent of the UN peacekeepers.
The United Nations said on Tuesday that Ukraine wanted to repatriate its peacekeepers following Russia’s military operation at the end of last month.
That includes the 250-strong contingent at the Goma base, serving as part of the 15,000-strong UN Stabilization Mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO).
In New York, a UN spokesman confirmed the news in a statement thanking the Ukrainians for their contribution to UN operations.
On Wednesday, everything seemed calm at the Goma base, which lies in the Bujovu district of the city, near the airport.
“We have learned that they are going to leave shortly, but we don’t have details,” said Antoine Bahati, a young courier who works for the Ukrainians.
Although the compound was off-limits to journalists, a MONUSCO delegation was seen entering the base for a meeting and, according to one UN source, talks are also underway in New York with the Ukrainian authorities.
But no information was as yet available concerning the details of their departure.
“May God protect them,” said local resident 29-year-old Justin Maheshe. “Because when there is war in a country, the people suffer.”
As a citizen of the DR Congo, he is well placed to know.
Goma is the main city in North Kivu province on the country’s eastern border with Uganda and Rwanda, an area that has suffered more than 25 years of violence from a plethora of rival militia.
Along with neighbouring Ituri province to the north, it has been placed under a “state of siege” since last May.
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