Rwanda says it has put troops by the border with Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on the alert following the escalation of tensions between the two countries, exacerbated by the expulsion of Rwanda’s envoy by Kinshasa.
DR. Congo expelled Ambassador Karega after M23 rebels seized Kitagoma border town, forcing hundreds of Congolese nationals to flee into Uganda’s Kisoro District.
Now, in response to the Kinsasha’s decision, Kigali says her troops have been put on alert as they follow developments in DR. Congo on the same.
In a statement issued by the Government Spokesperson, Yolande Makolo, Rwanda said it noted with regret the decision by the Government of the DRC to expel the Rwandan Ambassador Vincent Karega on Saturday.
“Rwandan security forces at our border with the DRC remain on alert, as we continue to monitor the Congolese escalation,”
“Of particular concern is the continued collusion between the Congolese armed forces with the FDLR, and their attempts to target the border area with heavy weaponry, as well as the bellicose anti-Rwanda rhetoric being broadcast by DRC officials,” the government statement reads in part.
Rwanda said will continue to bring to the attention of the international community the persistent hate speech, public incitement and violent harassment against Rwandans and Congolese Kinyarwanda-speaking communities in the DRC, carried out by Congolese officials and the general public.
Kigali also reiterated its condemnation of the collaboration between DRC government forces FARDC and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) which threatens Rwanda’s security.
“The integration of the FDLR within the FARDC and their collaboration is directly linked to ever increasing hate speech and violence in DRC against Rwandans and Kinyarwanda speaking Congolese communities,”
“It is regrettable the Government of the DRC continues to scapegoat Rwanda to cover up and distract from their own governance and security failures,” the statement adds.
It added that Rwanda remains committed to contributing to a sustainable, peaceful regional security solution within the agreed regional frameworks, including the Luanda Roadmap and the Nairobi Process.
The expulsion of Amb. Karega followed humiliating defeat of FARDC by M23 which continues to capture significant locations of North Kivu, threatening to advance towards Goma if their positions continue to be attacked.
A historical tiff
Relations between both countries have been strained since the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, as there was a mass inflow of Rwandans to eastern DRC.
However, that seemingly began to change after DRC President Felix Tshisekedi took office in 2019.
In April, the country was admitted into the East African Community, which includes Burundi, South Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and Rwanda. The seven states are also part of the broader International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).
It was welcomed as a new opportunity for partnership between the DRC and its neighbours in the east. “Admission of DRC is seen as a chance to explore new trade dynamics”, Nelleke van de Walle, the project director for the Great Lakes region at International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera.
Also beyond trade, it seemed like the groundwork for regional collaboration in tackling longstanding conflict in parts of the mineral-rich DRC, whose large size has provided fertile ground for dozens of rebel groups.
In the weeks after DRC’s integration, the body commenced negotiations at a summit in Nairobi with dozens of rebel groups in the eastern DRC – including the infamous M23 – to discuss the terms for an amnesty deal.
The group’s leadership is made up of members of the Tutsi ethnic group who say their aim is to fight against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a militia founded by Hutus who fled Rwanda. Some of them are reported to have been involved in human rights violations against the Tutsis.
The rebels had been incorporated into the Congolese army under a peace deal signed on March 23, 2009. In 2012, they mutinied, saying the deal had not been upheld and naming their group the March 23 (M23) Movement.
UN investigators have previously accused Rwanda and Uganda of supporting the M23. Both countries, which intervened militarily in the DRC during two regional wars 20 years ago, deny supporting the group.
A new episode
The current diplomatic spat seems to have been triggered by fighting between DRC forces and M23 on several fronts in North Kivu, a conflict-torn province which borders Rwanda – and the detention of the Rwandan soldiers.
The rebel group had been present on the first day of talks in April, but the Congolese delegation demanded and obtained its expulsion after news of renewed fighting in the Rutshuru territory, North Kivu.
Analysts say tensions between both countries began heightening incrementally prior to all these events. “Tensions between DRC and Rwanda reignited because of the former’s increased bond with Uganda and Burundi by allowing the countries to conduct operations on Congolese soil”, van de Walle said.
Last November, following deadly bombings in Uganda’s capital Kampala, Tshisekedi had allowed Ugandan units to cross into North Kivu in pursuit of the Allied Democratic Forces (F), a rebel coalition whose largest faction has sworn allegiance to the ISIL (ISIS) group. The F, formed in 1995, first set up camp in western Uganda before moving into the DRC.
By the end of 2021, Burundian soldiers had reportedly marched into the DRC to battle the RED-Tabara rebel group.
Consequently, Kigali feared “it will lose influence there; both economic and strategic”, said van de Walle, “since both Rwanda and Uganda have always had an interest in mineral reserves in eastern DRC”.
To be friends or foes again?
On 8 February, in response to the Ugandan and Burundian forces launching separate military operations in the DRC, Kagame gave a 50-minute speech to the Rwandan parliament, decrying a threat to the country’s security emanating from the DRC’s Kivu provinces.
He cited alleged connections between the F and the FDLR, a remnant of the Rwandan Hutu militia responsible for the 1994 genocide, a longstanding foe of Kagame – and the M23.
In his native Kinyarwanda interspersed with English, Kagame said the danger was great enough that he was considering deploying troops to the eastern DRC without Tshisekedi’s approval.
“As we are a very small country, our current doctrine is to go and fight the fire at its origin …”, Kagame said. “We do what we must do, with or without the consent of others.”
The result is the current diplomatic dispute between the neighbours.
Senegalese President Macky Sall, who chairs the African Union, called for dialogue between the countries and urged Angolan President João Lourenço, the chairperson of the ICGLR, to head peace talks.
Analysts say the onus is on Kagame to find ways to douse tensions ahead of the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting being held in Kigali later this June.
“The gathering of representatives from 54 countries is meant to be an opportunity for Kagame to flex Rwanda’s soft power as an exception to the political instability and economic decline in East Africa — and to show off his international stature,” said van de Walle.
“So it wouldn’t be in Kagame’s interest to let things escalate if he has all these things happening.”