AFRICA/DR CONGO - More violence in the east cause the exodus of local people

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - Mass Exodus of the Nande community from the village of Miriki, in the Territory of Lubero, in North Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. This is reported in a statement sent to Agenzia Fides by the "Study Centre for Peace, Democracy and Human Rights" CEPADHO, an association of local civil society. According to the statement, the Nande fear that a genocide against their community by the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda), a group of Rwandese origin, is being planned. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that over 21,000 people have fled from Miriki since January 7, when at least 14 people were killed in a night attack attributed to the FDLR.
According to CEPADHO, in the Territory of Lubero there is a climate of mistrust between the Hutu and the Nande community, so every Hutu is seen as belonging to the FDLR and all Nande as a Mai-Mai, a generic term for belonging to local self-defense militias. As a matter of fact a local Mai-Mai group based in Nande has had clashes with the FDLR for a long time. To get out of this spiral of violence and hatred, CEPADHO calls on local and national authorities, as well as MONUSCO (the UN Mission in the DRC), to initiate dialogue between the Nande and Hutu communities.
In the region there is also another group of Ugandan origin, the ADF (Allied Forces of Defense) that sows terror among the population, helping to increase the number of displaced people. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 03/02/2016)

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