An operation was launched by the ICRC on Wednesday April 30, 2025 to ensure the departure of the first convoys of FARDC soldiers and Congolese police officers stationed at the MONUSCO base in Goma, bound for Kinshasa.

“On April 30, 2025, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), acting as a neutral intermediary, is accompanying a series of convoys carrying several hundred disarmed members of the DRC Armed Forces (FARDC) and Congolese National Police (PNC), as well as their families, from Goma to Kinshasa,” said the ICRC in an official statement.

These soldiers and policemen took refuge in MONUSCO bases after the M23 took Goma at the end of January with the support of the Rwandan army.

“We thank the ICRC for its decisive role as a neutral intermediary in facilitating the implementation of this complex operation with the agreement of all the players concerned”, said Bruno Lemarquis, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and acting head of MONUSCO.

The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo express their deep gratitude to MONUSCO in a press release. This is “for the work carried out by its field teams to protect members of the FARDC and the PNC in this difficult and tense context, in accordance with the mandate entrusted to it by the United Nations Security Council”, says the statement from the Congolese army.

The ICRC hopes that the parties involved will secure this operation. “Under the terms of the agreement reached with the ICRC, the actors involved have undertaken to ensure the safety of the people taking part in the convoys and to work towards the success of the operation. The ICRC has also ensured that all persons have consented to be included in this transport.”

This operation will continue throughout the month of May, say sources.

Written by Akilimali Chomachoma