Written question asked by Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party) on Thursday, 16 November 2017, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 21 November 2017 (named day). It was answered by Rory Stewart (Conservative) on Tuesday, 21 November 2017 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Violence

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Government of Democratic Republic of Congo on incidents of violence in October 2017 involving killings and the attack on a Christian hospital.

Answer: The UK is deeply concerned by the continuing violence in many parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), especially in the East where we believe the attack on the Christian Hospital occurred. We frequently raise our concerns with the Government of DRC since the Government of the DRC holds primary responsibility for providing security for its citizens. However, the presence of a UN peacekeeping force in the DRC (MONUSCO) means that we also regularly discuss how to improve security with the UN. We recognise the need for MONUSCO troops to do more and in the most recent peacekeeping mandate for MONUSCO in March, alongside our partners at the UNSC, we ensured that the protection of civilians continued to be the number one priority for the mission.

Secondary information