AA / Kinshasa / Pascal Mulegwa
Kinshasa denounced Wednesday, an “unfortunate blackmail” following the threat, Monday, of the Rwandan president Paul Kagame not to open the borders any more to Congolese nationals fleeing violence in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
“Human rights have no value for the Rwandan president, neither freedom of expression nor freedom of demonstration. Moreover, for the freedom to demonstrate, Congolese refugees are instrumentalized because there is a political calculation behind it. This is the paroxysm of indecency,” Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya told a press conference.
He added that the threats of the Rwandan president constitute an “unfortunate blackmail” despite the rectification of the Rwandan government, made on Tuesday.
“What the President has addressed is the blatant hypocrisy in criticizing and accusing Rwanda of being the basis of state failure in the DRC, and who is then supposed to welcome those who seek refuge from the consequences of this failure (…) Rwanda has no intention of expelling or banning the refugees”, qualified the Rwandan spokesperson Yolande Makolo in a press release.
The Kinshasa spokesman said it was an “attempt to retreat”. He said Kagame “has unveiled his true intentions”. Rwanda hosts nearly 77,000 Congolese refugees.
The DRC hosts three times as many, nearly 200,000 Rwandan refugees on your territory.
Tensions between the two countries erupted with the resurgence, at the end of 2021, of the M23 rebellion (March 23 movement).
This rebellion accused by Kinshasa, the United Nations and several Western countries of being supported by Rwanda.
The M23 seized large territories in the territories of Nyiragongo and Rutshuru located in the province of North Kivu bordering Rwanda and Uganda.
The East African Community (EAC) has deployed a regional force under Kenyan command to fight armed groups in eastern DRC.
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