Marie would never have wanted to be there. She hates her personal story as much as she hates the Kigonze IDP camp, on the edge of the town of Bunia, capital of Ituri province, in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). , where she lives alongside 14,000 other people. In 2019, "my village was attacked by members of the Lendu community, they cut us with machetes, they killed us with gunshots, they took my arms", she says in a frantic pace.
In front of the UN diplomat Bintou Keita, head of the peacekeeping mission in the DRC (Monusco, Mission of the United Nations Organization for Stabilization in the Democratic Republic of Congo), the survivor retraces her journey for the umpteenth time, this attack and her infirmity, which led her to become – reluctantly – one of the spokespersons for displaced women. Two young girls accompany him. One, perhaps 6 years old and her face scarred by a blow from a machete, hides behind Marie. The second, to whom militiamen of the Cooperative for the Development of the DRC (Codeco), a “mystical-armed” movement which rages in the east of the DRC, cut off an arm, is barely entering adolescence. In the background, Marie's neighbor tirelessly repeats "hungry, eat, hungry..."
Marie is not the only one to question the effectiveness of the peacekeeping mission, the oldest and most expensive in the history of the UN, created in 1999. Another region, another context, even reality for Hélène, 22 years old. In October, after fleeing fighting between the Congolese army and elements of the M23 rebel group, she settled near the town of Goma, the secure capital of North Kivu. "Monusco supposedly came here to bring us peace," says the young woman, from Rutshuru territory, now occupied by the M23. There, the Blue Helmets, one of whose mandates is the protection of civilians, did not intervene. “We, on the contrary, perceive Monusco as the people who bring us war,” adds Hélène.
A real and deep crisis of confidence exists between the Congolese and the peacekeepers. “After many years of mission, you have to recognize that it is a failure, and they recognize it. I am therefore not surprised to see young people demonstrating against Monusco, ”says Jean-Marie Mushuganya, president of a cultural association in Goma. While it is difficult to trace the origins of the discontent, a peak was reached in July. During various anti-Monusco demonstrations in different towns in eastern DRC, 32 people were killed and four peacekeepers lost their lives.