The UN calls for a ban on forced returns of refugees in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

November 19 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The director of International Protection of UNHCR, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, has reiterated this Friday an appeal to prohibit forced returns, including those of asylum seekers, in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Elizabeth Tan has appealed for an end to the deportations of refugees from the provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri, even in cases where their asylum claims have been rejected, at a conference held at the Palace of the Geneva Nations.

In addition, the representative of the United Nations has indicated that many of these people meet the criteria to obtain legal recognition as refugees, based on the Convention on the Status of Refugees of 1951.

Tan has also expressed concern about the increase in the number of attacks against displaced civilians registered in these Congolese provinces in recent months, after the UN has estimated 1,000 deaths since February.

It is estimated that more than 188,000 people have been displaced in the last month as a result of the clashes between the rebel group Movimiento 23 de Marzo (23M) and the National Army, for which almost 5.6 million people have been displaced within the country.

For this reason, he has referred to the Democratic Republic of the Congo as “one of the biggest humanitarian crises in the world” and has appealed to the rest of the countries to take care of the refugees fleeing this situation, appealing to their “moral responsibility”.