Paul Kagame announces that Rwanda will no longer welcome refugees from the DRC

Published on : 10/01/2023 – 02:20

In Rwanda, President Paul Kagame said Monday in a speech to parliamentarians that Rwanda might not “ not continue to take in refugees Congolese by being insulted, in response to accusations of Kigali’s support for the rebellion of the armed group M23 in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

With our correspondent in Kigali, Lucie Mouillaud

According to President Paul Kagame, Rwanda cannot carry the ” burden of refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

« There is a type of refugee that I think we will no longer accept. We cannot continue to take in refugees, for whom we are later held responsible in some way, or even insulted. »

The Head of State once once more claims to contest Rwanda’s accusations of support for the M23 armed group. Accusations made by the DRC and several members of the international community, including the UN group of experts in a report published last December.

« All those who think that it is the problem of Rwanda and not that of the Congo, first of all, withdraw the Congolese who are here. Those who arrive every day, because of the actions of their government and institutions, who say that the government is not working properly, that is still not my problem. And if it’s my problem, it’s yours too, as an international community, I’m talking to them, it’s as much your problem as mine. »

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Rwanda was welcoming more than 76,000 Congolese on its territory at the end of November, some for more than twenty years, and the local media speak of more than 2,000 new arrivals in the last two months.