UK summons Rwandan high commissioner as Congo fighting continues
Rebels, reportedly backed by Rwandan troops, have captured two cities in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Foreign Office has summoned Rwanda’s top diplomat in the UK over advances by Kigali-backed rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The M23 rebel group, which is alleged to be supported by the Rwandan government, has occupied the cities of Goma and Bukavu in recent weeks as it fights for control of Congo’s mineral-rich, eastern region.
UN experts have claimed that the rebels are also supported by about 4,000 Rwandan troops.
On Tuesday, a Foreign Office spokesperson said Rwandan high commissioner Johnston Busingye had been summoned following advances made by M23 and Rwandan defence forces in eastern Congo.
The spokesperson said: “The UK strongly condemns the advances of the Rwandan Defence Force and M23 in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
“These advances constitute an unacceptable violation of DRC’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The government of Rwanda must immediately withdraw all Rwanda defence force troops from Congolese territory.
“We urge Rwanda to immediately cease all hostilities and return to dialogue through African-led peace processes.”
Meanwhile, the head of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights accused M23 of killing children and attacking hospitals and warehouses storing humanitarian aid.
Eastern Congo has been the sight of repeated outbreaks of hostilities since the 1994 genocide of the Tutsis in neighbouring Rwanda, when many Hutus fled into the area around Goma and Bukavu.
Rwanda has accused the Congolese government of enlisting some of those Hutus responsible for genocide into its armed forces, which the government denies.
M23 claims it is fighting to protect Tutsis in eastern Congo from discrimination, with some analysts suggesting the group is intent on seizing power in Kinshasa, the Congolese capital almost 1,000 miles to the west.
Last month, the Foreign Secretary David Lammy warned MPs of the “potential for a further humanitarian catastrophe” in eastern Congo as “hundreds of thousands” of people fled M23.
