Down in the DRC

When the rebel group known as the M23 took the Congolese city of Goma last month, they did so with the confidence and alacrity of a regular army unit. Within days of their entering the city, Goma’s streets were strewn with discarded Congolese Army (FARDC) uniforms, while the small contingent of Romanian mercenaries loyal to Kinshasa surrendered into ranks, before being taken across the border into Rwanda to be repatriated. It was the fresh-uniformed M23 who looked like professional soldiers.

There’s a reason the M23 looked like professional soldiers. According to a report prepared by UN experts, the M23 is “supervised and supported” by the Rwandan special forces, and the report conservatively estimates that 3,000 — 4,000 Rwandan soldiers are on the ground in the DRC supporting the group’s operations. Other sources believe the true number may be as high as 7,000. Rwanda’s backing of the M23 is widely accepted as fact by the governments of most western states, including the UK. But both Rwandan President Paul Kagame and the M23 persist in denying this.

In the aftermath of the invasion, a Sky News reporter pressed an M23 spokesman on the link between his group and the Rwandan state. The spokesman — Willy Ngoma — emphatically denied any connection:

“We are a Congolese army — we are Congolese. We fight for a fair and noble cause … We are not helped by Rwanda.”

He said this while wearing a camouflage baseball cap with the DRC flag conspicuously sewn onto the front. Incidentally, there is some uncertainty over where Willy Ngoma himself was born. Ngoma appears on multiple sanctions lists, some of which say he was born in Kinshasa, DRC. But the US sanction list — OFAC — claims he was born in Rwanda.

When commentators refer to other conflicts as “complicated” this is often a prevarication, but with respect to the war in Eastern Congo, “complicated” is a statement of fact. The conflict has a long and complex history dating back decades, and involves over 100 different armed groups. Numerous attempts at a diplomatic solution have failed, and some analysts theorize that the conflict has become self-perpetuating, as there are political and economic benefits at stake for the parties involved.

According to its leadership, the M23’s aim in Eastern Congo is to fight a “defensive” war to protect the Tutsi minority population from persecution by Hutu groups like the FDLR, the ranks of which contain fugitives responsible for the 1994 genocide against the Rwandan Tutsi population.

But for a supposedly “defensive” rebel group, the M23 has killed a lot of innocent people. Last December, The Guardian reported that upon entering the town of Rubaya, M23 soldiers repurposed a pestle and mortar in the town’s marketplace and began using it to crush the skulls of children. This act of brutality was not an isolated event: in 2022, the UN Joint Human Rights Office found that the M23 had murdered at least 171 civilians in settlements across North Kivu Province.

For its part, Rwanda has spent years inveigling itself into western favour

Rwanda’s interests in North Kivu Province — of which Goma is the capital — are political and economic, and Rwanda is pursuing those interests using the M23 as a proxy. “The first order issue is Kagame’s desire to be the leader of the Great Lakes region, and to achieve political dominance over his neighbours.” Renowned foreign correspondent Michela Wrong told me: “He believes he has an innate right to East Congo and its minerals.”

North Kivu’s mineral wealth is another important aspect of the conflict: the province is home to enormous deposits of precious metals and rare earth minerals, including gold. Despite producing relatively small quantities of gold domestically, Rwanda has increased its gold exports considerably in recent years to the point that gold has become its largest export. It is believed that most of this gold is actually mined in the Congo.

The west, meanwhile, is not only allowing Rwanda to continue its campaign of murder and theft in Eastern Congo, but is actively supporting it, and has been doing so for years. Only last year, the EU signed a €900m agreement with Rwanda to expand its mining infrastructure. The UK alone gives Rwanda £32m annually in bilateral aid. By funding Rwanda, the west is also funding the M23.

The motive that underlies the west’s complicity has to do with geopolitics. This crisis is happening at a time when many regimes in sub-Saharan Africa and the Sahel are forming ties with Moscow and Beijing. Rwanda has — through various means — presented itself to the west as a reliable regional partner who can help to protect western interests by opposing jihadism and malign foreign influence. “Rwanda has sold itself as the reliable policeman of Africa. The west has been swayed towards supporting Kagame because of the need to stop the spread of jihadism in Africa. It’s a political calculation, but it’s a false calculation, because by supporting Rwanda, the west is also destabilising the Great Lakes region.” Said Wrong.

For its part, Rwanda has spent years inveigling itself into western favour. Despite never having been a British colony, it joined the Commonwealth in 2009, having made English its primary official language the year before. It has even hired PR companies in the UK to launder its international reputation abroad.

It’s important to remember this isn’t the first time the M23 have taken Goma. The first time was in 2012, but the M23 withdrew. They were forced to do so because of the unified cessation of western aid to Rwanda, which dealt a blow to the country’s economy, and more or less forced the M23 into extinction. Today, Rwanda remains strongly aid-dependent, so a western aid embargo would likely yield similar results. 

Except this time, the international response has been rather less decisive. A statement from the FCDO condemned the invasion of Goma by the M23 and Rwandan forces, called for the withdrawal of Rwandan troops, and for a diplomatic solution to the hostilities. It concluded: 

“The UK is actively considering next steps, alongside international partners, including the possibility of a review of all UK support to Rwanda.”

It remains to be seen whether robust action will be taken. 

Meanwhile, the M23’s offensive rolls on. In the last few days, the city of Bukavu — about 100km to the south of Goma — has also been taken by the M23, with the Congolese Army putting up no resistance.

Western foreign policy rhetoric is largely predicated on the idea that our behaviour abroad should be informed by our principles: respect for international law, human rights, and the inviolable sovereignty of nation states. Like other western countries, the UK relies on these principles when criticising the actions of other states. But western rhetoric will ring hollow if these principles are only selectively adhered to. Perhaps it is time the British Government not only reviewed its funding for Rwanda, but rethought the morality of its entire relationship with a regime that rides roughshod over our values.