( CNN ) -- Britain and France are calling for an additional 3,000 United Nations troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo , where the U.N. already has its biggest peacekeeping mission , a senior British diplomat said Wednesday . A U.N. peacekeeper rides atop an armored vehicle last week in Goma , Democratic Republic of Congo . Mark Malloch-Brown , the British Foreign Office minister for Africa , the Middle East and the United Nations , announced a draft resolution on the troop increase while on a four-day mission to the war-torn Congo . Britain expects the U.N. Security Council to adopt the resolution by the end of the week , a spokeswoman for the British mission to the United Nations said . The resolution follows calls from the United Nations ' own peacekeeping experts , Human Rights Watch , and local human rights groups in Congo for more troops to support the 17,000 U.N. soldiers already there . A coalition of 44 organizations in eastern Congo wrote to the Security Council on Tuesday , pleading for more troops . `` This would help to prevent the atrocities that continue to be committed against civilians on an ever greater scale here in North Kivu [ province ] , on the border of Rwanda and Uganda , '' the coalition wrote . Fighting between government forces , allied militias and rebels under the command of Laurent Nkunda has forced an estimated 250,000 people to flee their homes since August . `` Since August 28 , fighting has intensified in many areas , causing deaths , rapes , lootings , forced recruitment and further displacements of civilian populations , '' the local coalition wrote . `` The population has thus been immersed in unspeakable suffering . In the last few days , fighting has drawn closer to large populated areas , such as the town of Goma . Fighting has also invaded and torn apart the region of Rutshuru , particularly in the town of Kiwanja , where hundreds of civilian deaths have now been recorded . '' The letter echoes concerns expressed by the British aid group Oxfam last week . `` The world is failing in its responsibility to protect the Congo 's innocent civilians , '' Juliette Prodhan , the head of Oxfam in Congo , said in a statement released November 13 . Watch international efforts to avoid a health catastrophe in Congo » . `` There has been an increase in incidents of forced labor , rape and widespread brutality , according to assessments carried out by international agency Oxfam over the past week , as armed men from all sides prey upon those who have sought 'sanctuary ' from the fighting in North Kivu '' province , she said . Another aid group , World Vision , says the conflict in the African country is the deadliest since World War II . The country has been at war since 1997 . `` The last decade of conflict has resulted in some 4 million deaths ; an estimated 1,200 people die every day due to ongoing epidemics and war-related causes ; some aid agencies estimate upward of 1,400 deaths per day , '' World Vision said in a statement . The local groups in Congo specifically requested help from the European Union , which can deploy military units faster than the United Nations can . Georgette Gagnon , the executive director for the Africa division of Human Rights Watch , said she also would like to see the European Union send troops . `` Our concern is that it is going to take three months [ for the United Nations ] to get anybody on the ground , '' she said . `` Our request is for the EU to send a bridging force . The EU has done this in the past for the Congo , and they have the capacity to get people on the ground within two weeks . '' The `` goal would be provide civilian protection , to do patrols and other things that would prevent looting , pillaging and raping by either the Congolese troops -- which are doing this -- or the rebel group , '' she said . The European Union has not announced plans to send troops to police the conflict . A spokeswoman for the British mission to the United Nations said London is `` not ruling in or out EU forces , '' instead focusing on strengthening the U.N. presence in eastern Congo .
The mission in Democratic Republic of Congo is already U.N. 's largest . Meanwhile , France call for 3,000 more U.N. troops in Congo . Human rights groups in Congo also have been calling for more troops there . Conflict in Congo has caused about 5000 people to flee homes since independence .