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Saudi Gazette
a day ago
- Politics
- Saudi Gazette
Rwanda pulls out of regional bloc over DR Congo row
KINSHASA — Rwanda says it is pulling out of a central African regional bloc after a diplomatic row over its involvement in the conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The country was supposed to take up the chairman role of the Economic Community of Central African States (Eccas), which rotates between its 11 members. But it was prevented from doing so at a meeting on Saturday in Equatorial Guinea. Announcing its decision to leave Eccas, Rwanda said its right to take up the "chairmanship... was deliberately ignored in order to impose the DRC's diktat". As a result, it saw "no justification for remaining in an organization whose current functioning runs counter to its founding principles and intended purpose". The row comes as efforts to end the fighting in eastern DR Congo continue. Following US mediation, Rwanda and DR Congo are working on a draft peace plan that is expected to be signed later this to a statement from the Congolese presidency, the Eccas leaders at the summit "acknowledged the aggression against the Democratic Republic of Congo by Rwanda and ordered the aggressor country to withdraw its troops from Congolese soil".It added that until the dispute was resolved, it was decided that Equatorial Guinea would remain in the chairman role "to the detriment of Rwanda".In comments directed at Rwanda, Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said that "one cannot continually and voluntarily violate the principles that underpin our regional institutions and claim to want to preside over them".He added that the Eccas decision "should inspire other regional organizations to adopt a firmer stance against Rwanda".Rwanda has been accused of supporting M23 rebels in the east of DR Congo. The group has made major advances at the beginning of the year, taking the key regional cities of Goma and Congo's government, the US and France have identified Rwanda as backing the year, a UN experts' report said that up to 4,000 Rwandan troops were fighting alongside the Rwanda has denied the accusations, saying instead that its troops were deployed along its border to prevent the conflict spilling over into its has once before, in 2007, left Eccas, whose mission is to foster cooperation and strengthen regional integration in central Africa. It rejoined several years later. — BBC
Qatar Tribune
a day ago
- Politics
- Qatar Tribune
Rwanda pulls out of regional bloc over DR Congo diplomatic row
KigalicTypeface:> Rwanda says it is pulling out of a central African regional bloc after a diplomatic row over its involvement in the conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The country was supposed to take up the chairman role of the Economic Community of Central African States (Eccas), which rotates between its 11 members. But it was prevented from doing so at a meeting on Saturday in Equatorial Guinea. Announcing its decision to leave Eccas, Rwanda said its right to take up the 'chairmanship… was deliberately ignored in order to impose the DRC's diktat'. As a result, it saw 'no justification for remaining in an organisation whose current functioning runs counter to its founding principles and intended purpose'. The row comes as efforts to end the fighting in eastern DR Congo continue. (Agencies)
DW
3 days ago
- Politics
- DW
Cameroon: The world's most neglected refugee crisis – DW – 06/07/2025
Cameroon's displacement crises are overlooked and underfunded: nowhere else is there such disparity between the political and media attention and the gravity of the situation, reports the Norwegian Refugee Council. Whenever a conflict flares up anywhere in the world, there's generally three things outsiders can do. Governments and institutions can mediate at the diplomatic level and exert political pressure through resolutions or sanctions. Aid organizations can alleviate the plight of the affected civilian population, mostly financed by donations or government funding. And the media can help create, through their reporting, the necessary public pressure. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), the largest humanitarian organization in the Scandinavian country, systematically examines conflicts worldwide on the basis of those three criteria. The NRC has just published its annual report of the most neglected displacement crises in the world. Eight out of 10 of those crises are unfolding on the African continent. Cameroon tops the list, followed by Ethiopia, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, Mali, Uganda, Iran, the DR Congo, Honduras and Somalia. Cameroon is a case study in global neglect, scoring shamefully low on all three criteria, NRC spokesperson Laila Matar told DW. The central African country was also on the list during the past couple of years, holding the undesirable top position most recently in 2019. Which crises affect Cameroon? The NRC puts Cameroon into the media attention category of "neglected". At the same time, the political will to solve the conflict receives 0 of a maximum of 30 points, and only 45% of the required aid funding is granted. According to the NRC, more than 1.1 million people are internally displaced. In addition, there are 480,000 refugees from other countries, most of them from the Central African Republic. Cameroon is the home of two conflicts that are geographically and politically far apart from one another. Since 2017, the western part of the country has been blighted by a civil war whose root causes date back more than a century. After the First World War, the former German colony was divided into British and French administrative areas. To this day, English is predominantly spoken in the two western regions, North West and South West. Radical forces are fighting for secession from the bigger, Francophone part of Cameroon and proclaimed an independent republic in 2017. Time and again, there are attacks or skirmishes with the army, which already claimed thousands of lives. It's primarily the second, larger conflict, however, that has intensified recently. The Lake Chad region, which also includes Cameroon's far north, is being destabilized by Islamist militants operating across borders. Why Niger's withdrawal from Lake Chad military force matters To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video What is happening in Cameroon's north? That upsurge could be observed in Cameroon's Logone-et-Chari district, and also in Nigeria's Borno state, said Remadji Hoinathy, a Chad-based expert of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS). In March 2025 alone, there were more than 10 surprise attacks on military barracks in the course of which with assailants took away a lot of military equipment, weapons, and sometimes even cars, Hoinathy told DW. In the region, the expert added, Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram had split up into two factions. There is ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province), which pursued "a kind of heart-and-mind-winning strategy," trying to set up state-like structures in occupied areas and "sometimes trying to deliver social services, but most of the time preying on communities in terms of extortion and illegal tax collection." The second faction is JAS (People Committed to the Prophet's Teachings for Propagation and Jihad). Hoinathy associated its approach with indiscriminate violence targeting the military, authorities and even civilians. He added that there was no way out for local people who were sometimes forced to collaborate with one of the groups, pay taxes and contribute to their objectives in order to save their own lives. One of hundreds of thousands of victims: Haoua Such practices play a pivotal role in driving hundreds of thousands from their homes, turning them into internally displaced persons. According to the NRC, only 30% are living in official refugee camps. The majority are left to their own devices, living in precarious conditions. One of them is Haoua, a woman who spoke to DW at the end of 2024 in the northern town of Maroua. At the time, the 39-year-old had been living in Maroua for one year. Her husband had been arrested and one of her sons-in-law had been killed by Islamist militants, which left Haoua solely responsible for eight children and two grandchildren. "The children don't go to school, I don't have the funds to pay for their education. I don't know where my husband is imprisoned," she told DW. "It's almost four days ago that the children and I had our last meal. When I beg for money in the street, they scare me away." Only rarely was she able to earn some money, doing other people's washing. Haoua and her children are struggling to make ends meet Image: Elisabeth Asen/DW How can the situation be improved? In order to achieve changes that benefit the local population, the security situation would have to be improved. For years already, countries in the Lake Chad region have been cooperating during joint military missions targeting Islamist militants operating across borders. Beyond the military agenda, the ISS' Hoinathy said, those countries had also set up a "Regional Stabilization Strategy." But after more than a decade of the fight against Boko Haram, the analyst added, one of the main challenges was a kind of fatigue in this regional cooperation. In its report, the NRC writes that without renewed political, humanitarian or media attention, Cameroon's prospects for 2025 were "even bleaker." Speaking to DW, NRC spokesperson Laila Matar decried that countries such as the US, UK, France and Germany had reduced their budgets for development and humanitarian aid, investing in defense instead. Of last year's global military spending, the expenses of three to four days would have been enough to cover the entire shortfall in humanitarian funding for the whole year, she added. "So with political will, these neglected crises would be solvable," Matar said. Josephine Mahachi and Elisabeth Asen contributed to this article. It was originally written in German.
The Star
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Star
Students in rebel-held eastern Congo brave insecurity to take exams
FILE PHOTO: Students return home from classes at the Mama Mulezi school complex, after M23 rebels announced the reopening of schools and universities, in Goma, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, February 11, 2025. REUTERS/Arlette Bashizi/File Photo BUKAVU, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) -Tens of thousands of secondary school students sat for state exams in rebel-held eastern Congo this week, a complicated logistical feat requiring rare cooperation between the government and M23 rebels. The Rwanda-backed insurgents seized eastern Congo's two largest cities in an offensive earlier this year and are now trying to show they can govern. African leaders along with Washington and Doha are meanwhile trying to broker a peace deal that would put an end to a conflict with roots in the Rwandan genocide more than three decades ago. The state exams, administered across the sprawling central African country for students hoping to go to university, began on Monday and will continue through mid-June. Administering them throughout the east of Democratic Republic of Congo required having education officials personally escort documents and other materials from the capital Kinshasa into M23-held cities and towns. "We were among those who went to Kinshasa to collect the items," said Jean-Marie Mwayesi, an education official in South Kivu province, where M23 claims considerable territory. "Thanks to the combined efforts of our teams and partners, all 111 centres we cover have been served." President Felix Tshisekedi's government announced last month it was waiving exam fees - which normally exceed $40 - for students in North and South Kivu provinces, citing insecurity. While M23 has previously said it seeks the ouster of Tshisekedi's government, the group's leader Bertrand Bisimwa told Reuters that it still recognised Kinshasa as the administrator of national exams. "Our presence in the eastern part of our country does not make this a separate country," Bisimwa said. "The education of our children is apolitical. It must be protected against any political divergence because we all work for the interest and well-being of our children." Human rights groups have repeatedly accused M23 of executing civilians including children - allegations the group has denied. Exauce Katete was among the students who sat for exams at a school in the South Kivu regional capital Bukavu, which fell under M23 control in February and where insecurity including vigilante violence has increased since then. "Yes, security is there. I can still see a few people outside, responsible for keeping us safe. There are no disturbances, no noise, everything is going well," Katete said, referring to plainclothes officers positioned by M23 outside the school. Mwayesi, the local education official, said that of 44,000 students who registered in his zone, nearly 42,000 showed up, speculating that the remainder may have been displaced by fighting. (Reporting by Congo newsroom; additional reporting by Sonia Rolley; writing by Robbie Corey-Boulet; editing by Mark Heinrich)
Straits Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Students in rebel-held eastern Congo brave insecurity to take exams
FILE PHOTO: Members of the M23 rebel group mount their vehicles after the opening ceremony of Caisse Generale d'epargne du Congo in Goma, North Kivu province in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo, April 7, 2025. REUTERS/Arlette Bashizi/File Photo FILE PHOTO: Students return home from classes at the Mama Mulezi school complex, after M23 rebels announced the reopening of schools and universities, in Goma, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, February 11, 2025. REUTERS/Arlette Bashizi/File Photo BUKAVU, Democratic Republic of Congo - Tens of thousands of secondary school students sat for state exams in rebel-held eastern Congo this week, a complicated logistical feat requiring rare cooperation between the government and M23 rebels. The Rwanda-backed insurgents seized eastern Congo's two largest cities in an offensive earlier this year and are now trying to show they can govern. African leaders along with Washington and Doha are meanwhile trying to broker a peace deal that would put an end to a conflict with roots in the Rwandan genocide more than three decades ago. The state exams, administered across the sprawling central African country for students hoping to go to university, began on Monday and will continue through mid-June. Administering them throughout the east of Democratic Republic of Congo required having education officials personally escort documents and other materials from the capital Kinshasa into M23-held cities and towns. "We were among those who went to Kinshasa to collect the items," said Jean-Marie Mwayesi, an education official in South Kivu province, where M23 claims considerable territory. "Thanks to the combined efforts of our teams and partners, all 111 centres we cover have been served." President Felix Tshisekedi's government announced last month it was waiving exam fees - which normally exceed $40 - for students in North and South Kivu provinces, citing insecurity. While M23 has previously said it seeks the ouster of Tshisekedi's government, the group's leader Bertrand Bisimwa told Reuters that it still recognised Kinshasa as the administrator of national exams. "Our presence in the eastern part of our country does not make this a separate country," Bisimwa said. "The education of our children is apolitical. It must be protected against any political divergence because we all work for the interest and well-being of our children." Human rights groups have repeatedly accused M23 of executing civilians including children - allegations the group has denied. Exauce Katete was among the students who sat for exams at a school in the South Kivu regional capital Bukavu, which fell under M23 control in February and where insecurity including vigilante violence has increased since then. "Yes, security is there. I can still see a few people outside, responsible for keeping us safe. There are no disturbances, no noise, everything is going well," Katete said, referring to plainclothes officers positioned by M23 outside the school. Mwayesi, the local education official, said that of 44,000 students who registered in his zone, nearly 42,000 showed up, speculating that the remainder may have been displaced by fighting. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
