Refugees International is conducting a humanitarian assessment mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Burundi from September 12 to October 9, 2004. Both countries are in the midst of tenuous transitions toward peace, overseen by United Nations-authorized peacekeeping forces. Both countries have experienced violence conflict in recent months, with renegade officers threatening to re-launch the war in the eastern Congo and rebel forces attacking Congolese refugees in Burundi. The credibility of the international efforts to resolve these conflicts is at stake.

In the DRC, the RI team will focus on the status of efforts to meet the humanitarian needs of the population of this vast country, as well as on the effectiveness of the UN peacekeeping force, MONUC, in providing protection to the civilian population. The French government has recently proposed a substantial increase in the size of MONUC, more than doubling its numbers to 25,000 soldiers, and RI will assess whether such a force is required. We will also assess the status of the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration process.

In Burundi, the focus will be on the conditions in areas of return for formally internally displaced persons and refugees. On a previous mission in March, we found that early returnees were not receiving adequate support and protection. RI will also follow up on the situation for Congolese refugees still living around Gatumba, the location of the massacre which took place in August.