Communiqué of the launch and field visit of the Joint Follow-Up Mechanism on the repatriation of the disarmed FDLR and ex-M23 combatants - 15 May 2018

15 May 2018

Communiqué of the launch and field visit of the Joint Follow-Up Mechanism on the repatriation of the disarmed FDLR and ex-M23 combatants - 15 May 2018

1. On 24 April in Goma, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in line with the decision of the Eighth high-level meeting of the Regional Oversight Mechanism (ROM) of the Peace, Security and Cooperation (PSC) Framework Agreement for the DRC and the region to “Complete the repatriation without preconditions of the FDLR disarmed combatants and their dependents located in transit camps in eastern DRC, and of the ex-M23 combatants that are in Rwanda and Uganda no later than 20 October 2018,” Special Envoy Saïd Djinnit and AU Special Representative Basile Ikouebe, together with representatives of the Governments of the DRC, Rwanda, Uganda, as well as other Guarantors of the Framework Agreement, including the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), launched the Joint Follow-Up Mechanism on the repatriation of disarmed FDLR combatants. The Southern African Development Community (SADC), which was initially scheduled to attend the meeting, sent its regrets due to the concurrent holding of its Double Troika Summit. Also in attendance were representatives UN agencies (UNHCR, UNICEF and UNDP) and the ICGLR’s Expanded Joint Verification Mechanism (EJVM).