The devastating conflict in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo between the M23 rebels supported by neighboring Rwanda and the Congolese army, allied with pro-government militias, is a major topic in the Western press. The clash has also caused attacks on Western embassies in the capital Kinshasa, writes BTA.
"Rwanda, "Donor darling" from the West, seizes the opportunity in Congo", reads a headline in the American newspaper. "New York Times". A conflict that has been raging for decades reached a boiling point this week when Rwandan-backed rebels marched on the strategic Congolese city of Goma in an attempt to seize territory and seize mineral resources, writes the newspaper's Ruth Maclean.
She recalls that after Rwandan-backed rebels took Goma in 2012, major world powers showed their disapproval by imposing sanctions on Rwanda. These measures led to the rebels' defeat a year later, emphasizes the "New York Times". But when the same rebel group fought to take Goma on Sunday, the countries that criticized it never applied the kind of pressure that ended the insurgency.
As hundreds of thousands of civilians fled the escalating violence in recent days, seeking refuge in the city of Goma, the M23 rebel group was close behind, the American publication said. Now, with the fate of the rebel-held city at stake, analysts told the "New York Times" that the conflict, which could have been contained with strong international pressure on Rwanda, is spiraling out of control.
The newspaper said that Rwandan President Paul Kagame has denied that his country is arming the M23 or sending troops to the Democratic Republic of Congo. His position is that the M23 is simply protecting the rights of the Tutsi minority in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kagame comes from the same ethnic group that was subjected to genocide in Rwanda in 1994, the American newspaper notes. According to the publication, many analysts believe that the rebellion is a pretext for occupying Congolese lands and plundering huge mineral wealth.
Rwanda has about 4,000 soldiers in the eastern part of the DR Congo, supporting the M23 offensive, UN experts say. The government of Agame seems to intend to redraw the Congolese map by seizing territory. Apart from reprimand, the West has no response, the "New York Times" emphasizes. Rwanda, with a population of only 14 million people, currently provides the second largest contingent of soldiers to the UN peacekeeping force, the newspaper notes.
As of 2021 Since then, Rwandan troops have helped quell a jihadist insurgency in Mozambique, where a French oil giant has a $20 billion gas project, an operation partly funded by the European Union, the American publication said. Rwanda has also shown a willingness to take in refugees who cannot settle in Europe, offering a way to address a problem that has led to the rise of European far-right movements.
For years, Western donors have looked to Rwanda as a prime example of how to properly channel aid that is used to stimulate economic growth. Rwanda has built an image of the Singapore of Africa, the New York Times notes.
"Powerful Western countries have long refrained from punishing Rwanda, which has built a reputation as a donor darling“, Dino Mahtani, a former adviser to the UN peacekeeping mission in DR Congo, told the publication. While some (Western countries - ed.) have now finally begun to insist that Kagame withdraw their support for the M23, they are unlikely to take action against the forces they see as a military solution to the jihadists in Mozambique,“, the expert adds.
On the other hand, in a series of cases, DR Congo is written off as a hopeless case. This country remains in the eyes of the West the “helpless giant“ of Africa, shaken by a series of wars and steeped in corruption and misery, points out the "New York Times".
In a report for the "New York Times" from the capital of DR Congo - Kinshasa, Eliane Peltier and Justin Makangara describe how protesters against the actions of the M23 burned tires and threw stones at the main complex of the US embassy. Demonstrators invaded a site where a new building of the mission is being built. The US embassy assured that measures were taken for the safety of staff and there were no injuries, the publication specifies.
Another American newspaper, "The Washington Post", also touched on the issue of attacks on embassies in Kinshasa, noting that the violence has reverberated far beyond Goma and at least ten foreign diplomatic missions have been attacked.
M23 rebels claim to have captured Goma after storming the largest city in eastern Congo, while UN officials report violence, looting and the bodies of dead civilians littering the streets, the publication describes.
"The Washington Post" points out that hospitals in the city of Goma - a regional commercial and humanitarian hub that is a refuge for hundreds of thousands of Congolese displaced by the fighting - are overcrowded.
The takeover of Goma by Rwandan-backed M23 rebels could effectively be interpreted as an invasion of Rwanda - Kigali's intervention risks creating a humanitarian catastrophe in a region marked by decades of conflict, the French newspaper "Monde" wrote in an editorial.
This is a war that brings constant suffering and devastation, but which has largely remained off the radar of major diplomatic powers. Since November 2021, when the Kizhali-backed Congolese March 23 Movement (M23) resumed its military actions against the DR Congo government forces in the east of the country, almost 1.5 million people have taken refuge in camps on the outskirts of Goma.
The current conflict has one peculiarity: one of the parties to it has not clearly stated its position; UN experts found last year that Rwandan armed forces "de facto control and direct the operations of the M23", which could be interpreted as "war crimes", Le Monde said. However, these conclusions remain a taboo subject for Western diplomacy, the publication notes. At its emergency meeting on Sunday, the UN Security Council called for the withdrawal of "external forces", without explicitly naming Kigali, adds "Le Monde".
The British newspaper "The Independent" quotes Bruno Lemarquis, UN humanitarian coordinator, as saying that "what is happening in Goma comes on top of what is already one of the most protracted, complex and serious humanitarian crises on Earth, with nearly 6.5 million displaced people in the DR Congo, including nearly 3 million in North Kivu province".
"Main roads around Goma are blocked, and the city's airport can no longer be used for evacuations and humanitarian activities. "Many neighborhoods are reportedly without electricity and water," said David Munkley, head of operations in eastern DR Congo for the Christian aid group World Vision, quoted by the Independent.