Written question asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Baroness Amos (Labour) on Thursday, 8 December 2005.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Question: What assessment they have made of (a) the number of fatalities in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo; (b) the number of people displaced by the conflict; and (c) the number of children under arms.

Answer: Recent estimates made by the non-governmental organisation IRC (International Rescue Committee) suggest that the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo has caused around 4 million extra deaths since it began in 1998. The Internationally Displaced Persons Unit in the Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that of the 2.3 million people left displaced at the end of the major conflict in 2003, 1.68 million have been able to return, leaving 1.67 million still displaced.However, these numbers reflect overall trends and do not illustrate the increasing short-term displacement observed over the past two years. Save the Children has estimated that there remain tens of thousands of children under arms in the DRC. Fewer that 8,000 have demobilised since the end of the war under the various disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programmes in operation.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 2503; 676 c115WA
Session: 2005-06
Subjects: Children Armed forces Death Armed conflict Casualties Internally displaced people Democratic Republic of the Congo
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk