Congo does not know what to do with rebels who surrender

AT THE ENTRANCEAK to a base for ex-rebels in Mubambiro, a town in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a young man paces to and fro, clasping a wooden replica of an -47, the rifle of choice for guerrillas everywhere. “I am the guard here,” he explains, “And I am used to having a gun, it makes me feel comfortable.”Shukuru Bijadunia, aged 23, handed his real rifle to the Congolese authorities in 2018 and has languished in a dismal camp ever since. He sleeps without a mattress in a shabby tent with other former rebels. Last year no food was provided at the camp for nine months. “I sleep badly, I barely eat and there is no medicine when we get sick,” says Mr Bijadunia. “Life in the bush was better.” Hundreds of other former rebels agree. At its peak, the camp hosted more than 1,700 fighters, from 30 different militias, who had surrendered. Today, fewer than 400 of them remain. Some have gone back into the bush to rejoin their old armed groups. Others have been recruited into new ones.