Paris, 21 December 2022 (GNP): France and Germany accuse the Rwanda government of supporting armed rebels in the eastern Congo, where the perpetrators of the Rwanda genocide took refuge, forming their armed groups opposing Tutsi and other ethnic minorities.
The increasing attacks by the rebel group M23 annoyed the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Kinshasa started the consideration of a military operation in eastern Congo, which is a safe haven for this group and other militias operating there.
The eastern Congo is rich in mineral resources: gold, Tungsten, Tin, and Tantalum, all needed and used in modern technology. Earlier, the United Nations officially charged Kigali for their backing of rebels in the eastern Congo.
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The United States asked Rwanda to stop supporting these rebels. Now, France and Germany also chastised Kigali for this. French official assistance to Rwanda rose from $ 4 million in 2019 to a staggering figure of $ 68 million in 2021.
As the Organization of Economic Development and Cooperation confirms, this aid to Kigali via Paris. Berlin also warned Rwanda of its behavior in the neighboring country and stressed on her to stop the rebels’ support in Congo.
Germany’s aid to Rwanda in 2021 was more than $ 98 million. However, the government of Rwanda refused to comment publicly on these accusations.
Paul Kagame, the long-serving President of Rwanda, called this ‘Congo’s Problem’ when he came to attend the US-Africa summit, saying that his country had not created any problems for Kinshasa.
Belgium also joined the queue of Kigali’s critics. Human rights watchdogs are regularly blaming Rwanda for emotionally blackmailing the international community for their delayed response to the 1994 genocide.
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In that genocide, more than 800,000 ethnic Tutsi and their Hutu supporters were killed by those who started this bloodbath. Kigali is now suppressing political opponents both at home and abroad.
Rwanda accuses Congo of providing support and assistance to another militant group, FDRL, in eastern Congo, which comprises mainly Hutu ethnicity against the Tutsi people in this region. While M23 is mainly made up of Congolese Tutsi with economic and military backing from Rwanda that it categorically denies.