The Rwandan-controlled M23 armed group has deported over 1,500 people from occupied eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to Rwanda in violation of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, Human Rights Watch said today. The Rwandan government and the M23 should immediately stop forced transfers of Congolese citizens and Rwandan refugees, which are war crimes.
Rwanda’s military, logistical, and other support to the M23 was critical for its capture of Goma and Bukavu, the provincial capitals of North and South Kivu respectively, from Congolese forces in early 2025. In February, the M23 ordered several hundred thousand people to leave displacement camps around Goma and dismantled virtually all the camps. In May, the M23 rounded up and transferred previously displaced people to Goma, where many were unlawfully deported to Rwanda with the assistance of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
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