Romain Kaurwa Bazungu, a provincial member of parliament representing Congo's Masisi territory, said families have been arriving in the Democratic Republic of Congo in trucks, taking over villages vacated by Congolese displaced by ongoing violence.

The territory around Kitshanga and near Virunga National Park in eastern Congo is under the control of the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group. Rwanda-backed M23 was formed in 2012 and is known for its armed resistance against the Congolese government. Since 2021, the group has been seizing more and more territories in the region. 

"We were alerted by locals in Masisi territory and Rutshuru, occupied by M23 terrorists, that about four vehicles brought people from Rwanda, the majority of them women and girls," Kaurwa told DW.

"The M23 issued threats to the Congolese that the people brought from Rwanda to these two territories would be settled in the plots of the displaced Congolese. The fear is that this situation risks plunging us into perpetual conflicts over land."

Neighboring Rwanda has not reacted to the allegations. In the past, Rwanda has repeatedly denied that it supports the M23 rebels despite a UN report and human rights organizations finding credible evidence to the contrary. The US has condemned Rwanda for supporting M23.

Who are the new arrivals?

Jonas Pandasi, a civil society leader in Masisi, is cautious over the origins of the new arrivals. 

"Both the government and civil society recognize that we have compatriots who have taken refuge in neighboring Rwanda and others in Uganda. Therefore, we think it's possible to hear that some have returned to parts of the country under the control of the M23," said Pandasi.

Augustin Muhesi, a professor of political science in North Kivu province, believes they could in fact be Congolese.

"The problem that could arise would be to say that displaced people or people presumed to be refugees return to Congo without any control mechanism," he said. "In the absence of Congolese state authorities or international NGOs, we may not know who exactly is coming in." 

Proper identification might be required to prevent non-Congolese people from infiltrating Congo, he explained. Most civil society actors working in Rutshuru territory had to leave their posts when the M23 arrived.

Eastern Congo, plagued by armed violence for 30 years — particularly in North Kivu — has been in crisis since the resurgence of M23 in November 2021.

UN approves peacekeepers to help deal with rebels 

The UN Security Council, in a significant move on August 6, authorized its peacekeepers in eastern Congo to provide technical and logistical support to the fight against rebel groups.

The Southern African Development Community Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMIDRC), deployed in North Kivu, has been assisting Congolese forces in combating M23 rebels.

The unanimous UN resolution allows the UN peacekeeping mission to Congo to support the SAMIDRC through "enhanced coordination, information-sharing and technical assistance."

The Security Council also welcomed a cease-fire agreement signed on July 30, 2024, between Congo and Rwanda, calling for a "lasting" peace between parties.

On August 4, the day the cease-fire was meant to take effect, an M23 group seized Congolese territory along the border with Uganda.

The eastern part of Congo is a region rich in minerals and other resources. Many of the local and foreign armed groups engaged in fighting there over the past three decades stem from regional wars dating back to the 1990s.

The SAMIDRC deployment comes after a yearlong mission by the East African Community (EAC). The mandate of that mission ended at the request of the Congolese government, which accused the regional bloc of working with the M23 rebels instead of fighting them.

In June, UN peacekeepers finalized their departure from South Kivu, amid a gradual withdrawal from eastern Congo, after a presence dating back to 1999. 

Edited by: Benita van Eyssen

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