Pakistan on Thursday requested the implementation of the resolution of the UN Security Council last month that demanded that the withdrawal of the M23 rebels backed by Ruanda of rubber and other parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (RDC) controlled and encouraged the RDC and Rwanda to return to diplomatic conversations.
In February, the columns of M23 combatants entered the center of another key city in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, since the African Union had highlighted the growing fears that the country devastated by the fight could break. The fighters had reached peripheral districts of Bukavu, the capital of the province of South Kivu.
The fall of the city of one million people, who was barely defended by the Congolese Armed Forces (Fardc), gives total M23 control of Lake Kivu, after its rubber capture, the capital of the neighboring province of North Kivu, at the end of January.
“It is evident that there is no military solution for this conflict,” said Ambassador Iphtikhar Ahmad, a permanent representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, during a debate on the deterioration of the situation of the RDC.
“In recent weeks, this Council has dedicated considerable time and attention to the situation in the East RDC, where the M23 military offensive, with external support, has prevented peace and security, the overturned life of innocent civilians, exacerbated the humanitarian situation and drastically increased the risk of a broader scale in the region of the great lakes,” the sending of Pakistani, he said.
All parties, particularly M23, emphasized, must participate in good faith with the facilitators led by the Angoo Louranco President and the former president of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta.
“We believe that these processes led by Africans and facilitated provide the appropriate framework to comprehensively address the complex historical and continuous underlying factors, including legitimate security concerns from all sides.”
Ambassador Ahmad praised the peace forces of the UN stabilization mission in Dr Congo (Monusco) for their efforts in extremely difficult conditions, while they can operate in 60 percent of the territory, M23 controls the remaining 40 percent, restricting their movement.
“These restrictions should be completely lifted, and those that obstruct Monusco or in danger of peace maintenance must be responsible.”
In this regard, he said that the mission should be properly strengthened and equipped to fulfill its current or modified mandate in the future, in consultation with the Government of the RDC.
In conclusion, the Pakistani envoy said it would be in the interest of the RDC and Rwanda and the broader region to demonstrate the political will and genuine commitment, particularly the implementation of this resolution and decisions of the UNSC of the Security Council of the African Union and subregional organizations, to lay the foundations for lasting peace and stability in the region.
Informing the Security Council, the Chief of Monusco, Bíntou Keita, told its members that the armed groups affiliated with the M23 rebels backed by Rwanda in the East DRC have continued to expand their control in the north and south of Kivu establishing their most territorial profits.
She expressed concern about the growing violence and displacement in the country since M23 invaded the key rubber cities and Bukavu last month.
These armed groups are not only taking territory, he explained, but they also try to install a parallel administration, recently by appointing a governor and two vicobberors in Bukavu, as well as financial and mining officials in northern Kivu.
Monusco peace holders have been in the RDC since 2010 with a mandate to protect civilians and strengthen the efforts of the Congolese government to quell violence and insecurity at the hands of multiple armed groups in the east.
Monusco had proceeded, at the request of the RDC, to withdraw his troops from southern Kivu in June 2024, but Kinshasa reversed the course, asking the Security Council to extend the mandate of Monusco until the end of 2025.
Despite the best efforts, armed groups have achieved great recent profits, mainly the March 23 movement, which defends the interests of the Congolese Tutsi, many exiles of Rwanda and benefit from the support of the Rwandan forces, and the Extremist Allied democratic forces (ADF).
Keita described an alarming increase in human rights violations, including the summary execution of more than 100 civilians, forced recruitment of children, kidnappings and cases of forced labor.
Women and children remain the main victims, he told the Council, pointing out an increase in sexual violence linked to mass displacement, conflict and the presence of escaped prisoners and new recruits in the affected areas.
Internally, girls and displaced boys are traumatized, explained Charlotte Sloente of the Danish Refugee Council, also informing the Member States. We have heard reports from girls who participate in the survival sex, she stressed.
Humanitarian workers have documented violation cases that involve girls up to five years, with almost all cases of child protection that involve sexual violence. From December 2024 to February 2025, 403 violations of tombs of the rights of the child were verified.
In the province of Icuri over northern Kivu, violence between the armed groups of Codeco and Zaire has worsened, with civilians near mining areas and farmland with the worst part of the attacks.
The security situation has caused hundreds of thousands of their homes, with more than 100,000 newly displaced since January in the city of Djugu in Ituri, alone.
However, humanitarian access remains severely limited due to insecurity, obstacles and closing of key airports in rubber and kavumu.
At the same time, the situation is aggravating in a global financial crisis context, Keita emphasized. As of March, the 2025 humanitarian response plan for DR Congo was only 8.2pc.
Despite these obstacles, Monusco continues to fulfill his mandate, he stressed, citing expanded patrols, civil protection efforts and the facilitation of disarmament conversations in Ituri.
These led to the surrender of more than 2,200 combatants of the Zaire group and the capture of weapons and ammunition.
Meanwhile, the deployment of a new force commander in northern Kivu has promoted coordination with the Congolese forces. Even so, Monusco faces movement restrictions imposed by M23 in rubber and its surroundings, including obstacles and early notification requirements.
Keita expressed a deep concern about the growing hate speech and the ethnic orientation of the Tutsi and the speech Congolese Swahili, particularly as the displaced populations move west towards the RDC in interior vast vast.
He asked the government to adopt legislation to counteract tribalism, racism and xenophobia and reaffirm the diversity of the nation.
