Rwanda-backed M23 rebels agreed on Tuesday to withdraw from the key city of Uvira in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) following a request from the United States.5202496

The rebels entered Uvira, near the borders of Burundi and Rwanda, last week, days after the Congolese and Rwandan governments signed a peace accord in Washington, DC.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Rwanda's actions violated the US-brokered deal and vowed to "take action to ensure promises made to the President are kept."

Rwanda has repeatedly denied supporting M23 and has blamed Congolese and Burundian forces for the renewed fighting.

Jason Stearns, director of the Congo Research Group, noted that the continuing clashes have been "elevated to a very high level in Washington."

"The level of hypocrisy really angered senior people in the White House and in the State Department," Stearns added.

Sanctions threat forces M23 retreat

"Rwanda and the M23 have realized that they have clearly overshot the mark this time," said Timo Roujean from the German Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) in Kinshasa, which is affiliated with the German center-right party CDU.

"As soon as serious sanctions against Rwanda are considered, the M23 withdraws," Roujean added. "This actually proves that Rwanda is the puppet master behind the M23."

After seizing major cities including Goma in January and Bukavu in February, the capture of Uvira gave M23 rebels control over the land border between the DRC and Burundi. 

"Burundi has been one of the key allies of Kinshasa," said Stearns. "They've deployed over 10,000 troops. And by cutting them off from the front line, that was strategically important. Of course, that will change if the M23 give up Uvira. We'll have to see how far they withdraw."

M23 pushes for neutral peace force

A statement from an alliance that includes M23 fighters called for "adequate measures" to be put in place to manage Uvira, including "demilitarization, protecting its population and infrastructure, and monitoring the ceasefire with a neutral force."

It called for implementation of a framework ceasefire deal reached in a parallel peace process negotiated in the Qatari capital Doha, which was agreed in November but never respected on the ground.

M23 said it was withdrawing as a gesture "to instill trust in order to give the Doha peace process every chance to succeed." However, the rebel group also made it clear that they do not intend to cede any further "liberated territories" for the time being.

The statement emphasized that it will not allow armed groups hostile to Burundi's government "to use liberated areas as rear bases for any hostile acts likely to undermine good neighborly relations between our two countries."

According to DW correspondent Ruth Alonga, who spoke to people on the ground in Uvira, "the residents are not yet convinced by this statement.

"Firstly, the rebels are still there, so nothing has changed. And secondly, the population tends to trust facts rather than statements. The M23 has already announced on social media that it could withdraw from Uvira under certain conditions."

The neutral force demanded by the M23 must be composed primarily of countries from the subregion that are not involved in the conflict, noted DW correspondent Alonga, who added that the neutral force cannot be established immediately — it will take time. 

Sanctions debate intensifies in Washington

"There's currently much talk around sanctions in Washington, DC," said Stearns. He added that if sanctions were imposed, they would not only target individual commanders but could also seriously affect key Rwandan institutions, including the gold industry.

There would be a whole range of possibilities on the table, "ranging from a review of support or allowing Rwanda to deploy troops and peacekeeping operations to travel and business advisories," Stearns said. "And if the US steps forward, my understanding is that Europeans would also act."

Roujean, the KAS researcher in Kinshasa, asked: "What would have happened if the EU or the US had imposed sanctions on Rwanda earlier? Would we have come this far at all? To the fall of Goma and Bukavu, to all these atrocities that have now been committed against the population?"

After the capture of Goma and Bukavu, almost 120,000 Congolese fled to Burundi — and after the fall of Uvira, according to the UN, more than 40,000 people joined them.

Marthe Maombi, 69, also fled with her extended family from the eastern DRC to Burundi — for the second time in a year, she told DW. They have been trying to build a new life in the Burundian city of Bujumbura.

"I fled with my grandchildren," Maombi said. "Food is very expensive, we hardly eat anything. We can't even find anyone to work for in exchange for food. It's torture."

Border closure strands families in Burundi

It has not been possible for most families like Maombi's to return to the DRC.

"The return is becoming a problem," Shukuru Amani, who comes from a village in South Kivu province's Ruzizi Plain, told DW.

His family members are currently stuck in Burundi as the border is closed for security reasons. And its reopening is not imminent, says DW's Alonga, because there is no climate of trust between Burundi and the M23. 

On the other hand, on December 14, several hundred Burundian nationals stranded in Uvira were able to return to their country after negotiations between the rebels and the Burundian state, led by the Catholic Diocese of Uvira.

Meanwhile, daily life in Uvira is moving at a snail's pace, reports Alonga, adding that shops are closed, traffic is lighter than usual, and the population remains cautious.

Ruth Alonga in Uvira, DRC, and Antéditeste Niragira in Bujumbura, Burundi, contributed reporting  

Edited by: Keith Walker