United Nations Radio

With the crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo escalating, the Security Council has been reviewing the request by MONUC, the UN mission in the Congo, for an additional 3,000 troops. Several NGOs emphasized just such a stronger MONUC is needed. Diane Bailey has more.

DIANE: On a phone line from eastern DRC, Oxfam aid worker Juliet Prodhan reports that for the moment the streets of Goma are quiet, but everyone including aid workers like herself, is living in fear. Many of Oxfam's partner organizations are hiding in the bush, the agency has been unable to reach many of those in need, including some people who have been without water for over a week.

Juliet: The populations that we're assisting have been so terribly traumatized that when you ask them what their first need is, they say it's for safety they think that they've come to a place where they can be helped and assisted or the fighting comes closer These are people who've seen family members raped in front of them, these are people whose children have been forcibly recruited into the army, these are people who've suffered an immense amount of grief, not just in the last two weeks but over the last few years.

DIANE: Both UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and his special representative and head of the mission in the DRC, Alain Doss, have requested an additional 3,000 soldiers and police. Already, the mission has re-deployed many of the 17,000 forces to the eastern part of the country to deal with the renewed fighting. Steve Crawshaw, advocacy director with Human Rights Watch, told journalists that with MONUC so clearly overstretched, and the threats against civilians, he was at a loss as to how much more information Security Council members needed to make a decision to send the additional troops.

Crawshaw: But at the moment, the catastrophic situation that we see in eastern Congo needs to have the direct involvement of the more troops that the UN has so clearly called for and so far until now they have received nothing. I think it would be necessary to ask those governments how much worse things could be for them to feel that they can take a wait and see attitude.

DIANE: Fabienne Hara, Vice President of International Affairs with the International Crisis Group, acknowledged that MONUC could improve its performance but stressed that at least in the short-term, there was a need for intervention by the EU, the European Union.

Fabienne: We think that an external force, an EU force perhaps, secure the airport of Goma, allow humanitarian assistance to be delivered, perhaps create dmzs, humanitarian assistance this would be a clear marker that eastern Congo is not a free for all.

DIANE: But long-term, Fabienne Hara insists, a political solution is needed. The many agreements between Rwanda and the DRC had not been implemented, perhaps because those agreements only addressed the security situation.

Fabienne: One very important dimension of the problem is business, economy, business practices, on trade, on exploitation of resources, on land as well that would allow free circulation between Rwanda and the DRC is also important but - these issues have never been put on the table, but this needs to be demystified, this needs to be talked about if we want to see a sustainable solution in eastern Congo.

DIANE: Meanwhile, the Southern African Development Community has offered to send troops, following last week's Nairobi summit aimed at finding a solution to the conflict in the DRC. For UN Radio, this is Diane Bailey reporting.

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