DRC: M23 Rebels Expel Civilians to Rwanda

Former members of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) and police officers who allegedly surrendered to M23 rebels arrive in Goma, Congo, Feb. 23, 2025

By Michael Oduor

Thousands of people believed to be illegals from Rwanda were expelled by the M23 from the key major town of Goma on Saturday.

On Monday, the M23 spokesperson, Willy Ngoma, presented 181 individuals claiming they were Rwandan subjects who were illegally in Goma.

Also presented were thousands of women and children believed to be family members of the culprits. According to witnesses, they were carried in trucks and their documents, issued by the Congolese authorities, were burned to ashes. The group claimed that the documents were bogus.

The majority of the families are from the Karenga region, located in North Kivu, which had been under the control of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).

Both Kigalia and M23 accuse the Congo government of supporting the FDLR, which has also committed numerous atrocities in the region.

According to some sources, most families lived in a displacement camp in Sake, a few kilometers from Goma.

Some 360 people were repatriated on Saturday into Rwanda, according to Eujin Byun, a spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR].

For decades, mineral-rich eastern Congo has been ripped apart by violence from government forces and different armed groups, including the Rwanda-backed M23, whose recent resurgence has escalated the conflict and worsened an already acute humanitarian crisis.

The rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N. experts.