The entrance of the Rebelde Group Movement 23 (M23) in the Congolese of rubber, the capital of Kivu Norte, last Sunday, wrote the last episode of a long conflict that has its roots in the Rwandan genocide of 1994, linked to The exploitation of Coltán’s mines and has put Rwanda and Congo on the verge of war.
The crisis affects the Democratic Republic of Congo (RDC), a country in central Africa that still suffers the sequels of the two great wars that occurred between 1996 and 2003, which caused the death of more than five million people, both combatants and civilians that died from malnutrition and related health problems.
The European Union has reaffirmed its offensive sentence on Thursday, demanding Rwanda to withdraw their support for the militia and that their troops leave the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“We strongly condemn the new M23 offensive, backed by the Rwandan Armed Forces, including the occupation of rubber. The continuous advance of the M23 is an unacceptable violation of the high the agreed fire and further aggravates the serious humanitarian crisis in the east of the east of the RDC, “said the exterior spokesman, Anouar the anun.
He has also stressed that the common position of the EU is “to condemn the climb” and has indicated that the Member States will evaluate “actions against those who endanger peace and stability in the RD”. “In particular, Member States urged Rwanda to cease their support for M23 and withdraw their RDC troops,” he added.
What is the March 23 movement (M23)?
The March 23 movement (M23), which is now presented under the framework of the Congo River Alliance (AFC, according to French), is a rebel group of Tutsi majority that operates in the east of the RDC. His name recalls a peace agreement signed on March 23, 2009, which sought to end an earlier insurgency and allow the integration of their combatants into the Congolese army. However, considering that the government did not comply with the agreed, the M23 resumed the weapons.
In 2012, he already starred in an uprising, managing to take the rubber city, which was stifled in 11 days. The conflict was reactivated in 2022 with an offensive that has now achieved important territorial advances, including the recent rubber. The group accuses the Congolese government of marginalizing the Tutsis in the Army and the Administration, while continuing to expand its control in the region.
Importance of rubber
Rubber is a key point for trade, security and humanitarian aid in much of the Democratic Republic of Congo (RDC), in addition to having a strategic airport for the supply of resources. For this reason, since 2021, the Congolese government and the UN troops had kept the rebels away from the city.
Now, the arrival of M23 is a challenge for government forces and shows the failure of its attempts to contain insurgency. Ravina Shamdasani, from the UN Human Rights Office, warned that rubber taking could have “devastating consequences” for hundreds of thousands of civilians, exposing them even more to human rights violations and abuses.
Some experts point out that the expansion of M23 to new areas allows you to increase your income through mining exploitation. For more than a year, the group controls the Rubay region, rich in Coltán, obtaining about 800,000 million dollars per month through production taxes, according to UN data.
Coltán is an essential mineral for the manufacture of mobile phones and other electronic devices. At present, world demand from this and other resources extracted in the RDC is higher than ever. Countries such as Rwanda, Uganda, China and the United States have important interests in Congolese mines.
The US Department of Commerce, estimates that the RDC has mineral reserves valued at 24,000 million dollars, mostly without exploiting, and is the worldwide cobalt producer.
Rwanda paper in the conflict
The Congolese authorities, the UN, the EU and the United States have pointed out Rwanda as responsible for supporting the M23 Rebel Group, something that Kigali’s authorities deny bluntly. A UN report of mid -January indicated that between 2,000 and 3,000 Ruandese soldiers were in the Congolese territory supporting the M23. In addition, much of the Coltán and other minerals extracted from the areas under guerrillas end in Rwanda, from where they are exported to the rest of the world, according to experts.
Rwanda’s support for M23 has aggravated relations between Congo and Rwand , which led Congo to withdraw all his Kigali diplomats.
For his part, the president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, argues that Congo’s support for the Militias Hutus is the cause of the conflict and has also ordered the withdrawal of his Kinshasa diplomatic personnel. The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, has expressed concern about the possible expansion of the conflict in Africa.
Is it possible to reach an agreement?
The most recent attempt to achieve a peace agreement took place in the process of Luanda (Angola), promoted by the Angoleño President Joao Lourenço, who promoted a high fire that failed in July 2024. On December 15 of that year , Tshisekedi and Kagame had planned to meet in Luanda, but, at the last moment, the president of Rwanda canceled his assistance, arguing that Congo did not show enough willingness to negotiate with the M23.
Some experts suggest that the lack of action of international powers against Rwanda, added to military conditions in the field, could hinder the defeat of the rebels in rubber.
Darren Davids, an an analyst at the Intelligence Unit rubber control and, above all, supply routes in Northern Kivu. In this sense, it suggests that the M23 use rubber control as a negotiation tool with the Congolese government.
For his part, Jason Stearns, a political scientist at Simon Fraser University Specialized in the region, considers that rubber loss represents a deep change and warns that much of the Congo is likely to be out of the control of the central government for a long period.
