GISENYI, Rwanda—Many of the millions of people trapped in eastern Congo’s escalating rebellion face a terrible choice: Retreat into Congo’s interior and seek the protection of a weak army in disarray, or cross into nearby Rwanda, which is accused of backing the rebels.
The largely unchecked rebel advance that seized Goma, the region’s largest city, this week has raised fresh questions about the inability of Congolese troops and their allies to protect civilians as a decades-long African war revives almost 1,000 miles from Congo’s capital—and a short walk from Rwanda.
This time, there are concerns that the M23 will hold Goma as a sort of buffer zone as Rwanda essentially redraws the border with its vastly bigger neighbor in a region estimated to have trillions of dollars in largely untapped mineral wealth like cobalt and gold. Rebel leaders say they plan to set up an administration in the city.
“We are fighting for the future of our children. Sit down. On the ground,” M23 spokesperson Willy Ngoma told him. Ngoma said 289 mercenaries were escorted into Rwanda and sent “home,” as a line of U.N. peacekeepers watched.The rebel advance shatters a 2024 ceasefire and echoes the M23’s capture of Goma over a decade ago, which didn’t last long as the international community pressured Rwanda to back off.
“The very people who murdered people here in Rwanda, those who carried out the genocide, still exist, are still armed, are still practicing the ideology of genocide in our neighborhood, in eastern Congo,” Kagame said on January 16. “Supported by government, supported by leaders in that place, on the watch of this international community that talks about values, that talks about interests.”
Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi has previously ruled out direct negotiations with M23, and peace talks leading to last year’s ceasefire were between Congo and Rwanda, with Angola mediating. But the seizure of Goma, which sparked violent demonstrations in the capital, Kinshasa, as locals protested what they called the international community’s inaction, could force his hand.
As the United States and others call for a ceasefire in the region, humanitarian concerns grow as more people flee once more.
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