Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta has urged the African Union not to support the deployment of SADC troops in eastern DR Congo, warning that it could exacerbate the conflict, according to a letter from the minister to African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat.
The minister's letter came against the backdrop of a planned meeting of the AU Peace and Security Council, to consider, among other things, the authorization of the deployment of the SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (SAMIDRC), a meeting of which the Rwandan government learned "with great concern."
He accused the regional force of collaborating with the Congolese army and other coalition armed groups, including the Rwandan rebels of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, an ethnic militia directly linked to the 1994 genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda.
"SAMIDRC, as an offensive force in coalition with these elements, cannot substitute for a political process that has been blocked by the government of DRC. Therefore, the African Union is urged not to 'authorize' or fund SAMIDRC," the statement said. " [...] The intention to compel the African Union to support the SAMIDRC deployment can only exacerbate the conflict."
The statement added that any AU support for the deployment of Southern African troops in the DRC would be an endorsement of "Kinshasa's offensive posture and would undermine a peaceful settlement of the decades-long crisis."
The dispute between Rwanda and the DRC concerns the operations of the M23 rebels in eastern DR Congo. The DRC has repeatedly accused Rwanda of supporting the rebels, while Rwanda denied any links to the movement.
In mid-February, the Rwandan government expressed concern about the situation in eastern DRC, namely the significant military buildup and the abandonment of regional peace processes.
Earlier, the DRC government accused Rwanda of dropping a bomb on a camp for displaced people in eastern DRC, seriously injuring eight people. Kinshasa also accused Rwanda of a drone attack that damaged a civilian plane at the airport of the strategic eastern city of Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu.
The M23, a group fighting for the interests of the Tutsi ethnic minority in the DRC, first rebelled against the government in 2012, but suffered a major military defeat in 2013 and was disbanded. The rebels took up arms again in 2021, accusing the authorities of violating agreements to integrate disarmed M23 rebels into the army.
Years of violence and insecurity in DR Congo linked to rebel groups have driven 5.7 million people from their homes, according to the UN humanitarian agency OCHA.
The conflict also led the DRC government to seek help from the East African Community (EAC), which deployed troops in November 2022. A year later, however, EAC leaders announced that the DR Congo had decided not to renew the mandate of the EAC regional force after it expired on December 8, 2023, and the bloc's troops were withdrawn by the end of the year.
The EAC forces were replaced by the SADC contingent. In mid-February, the South African presidency announced a decision to deploy 2,900 troops to eastern DRC under SAMIDRC.
The 16-member SADC approved the mission to the eastern DR Congo in May last year.