Congolese Diaspora in Rwanda Backs ‘Sincere Dialogue’ to End Tensions

The New Times

Moise M. Bahati Moise M. Bahati

Friday, November 04, 2022

The Congolese community living in Rwanda say they support peaceful means to the end of the conflict between the M23 rebels group and the Kinshasa government.

Tension escalated recently when the DR Congo army, FARDC, launched an offensive against M23 on October 20. M23 retaliated, pushed back FARDC and captured some state army controlled strongholds.

The DR Congo government revamped it's accusations towards alleging that Rwanda supports the M23 – but Kigali dismissed the allegations, calling the war an intra-Congolese issue. Rwanda has also expressed concerns over the continued existence of FDLR genocidal forces in DR Congo and are currently embedded into FARDC.

The Congolese government recently expelled the Rwandan ambassador in Kinshasa, a move Kigali said was “regrettable.”

In a statement, Congolese diaspora said they were “very concerned” about the escalation of tensions between Rwanda and DR Congo.

They reaffirmed “the importance of a sincere dialogue based on substantive issues that are at the root of mistrust and tension between the governments.”

The tensions have also seen an increase in hate speech in DR Congo against Rwandans and Kinyarwanda speaking DR Congolese.

“The Congolese diaspora in Rwanda congratulates the Rwandan people who, despite the situation experienced by their community in the DR Congo, always grants us their hospitality,” read the statement signed by Raymond Awazi Bohwa, the legal representative of the Congolese diaspora in Rwanda.

They further appealed to all Congolese and Rwandans to “break the mistrust which negatively impacts our relations and to pursue the path of real fraternity based on our common African identity.”

The organisation said they supported the “strict” implementation of the Nairobi and Luanda agreements – both of which are aimed at solving the security crisis in eastern DR Congo peacefully – for the security of the region.

They said that they thank the Rwandan authorities for “the tranquility, the easy integration and the opportunities from which it remains a beneficiary” despite the tensions between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.

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