Congo, Rwanda: IDPs under Trump-backed October Security Measures

As reported in Land Times/أحوال الأرض  No. 32, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been unstable since the influx of refugees from the Rwandan Civil War during the 1990s, leading to multiple conflicts over the ensuing decades that have seen over 100 armed groups, some of which have been supported by the government of Rwanda. Some of Rwanda’s Hutu groups responsible for that country’s genocide against Tutsis  particularly the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), continue to be active in the eastern DRC.

With an estimated 27.7 million Congolese facing acute hunger as of March 2025, the DRC fighting has left 4.75 million children under five facing or expected to face acute malnutrition, with another 1.4 million in severe conditions. The spike in malnutrition is largely driven by the mass displacement due to conflict. In December 2024, the UN reported more than 7.8 million people are now internally displaced in eastern DRC, the highest figure on record, and more than 108,000 people have fled from DRC to neighboring countries. However, UN sources have not updated that figure in almost a year.

Meanwhile, under conditions posed by the US Trump Administration, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda agreed to start implementing security measures in October 2025 as a key step toward carrying out the peace agreement amid concerns over lack of progress. Following Congolese and Rwandan foreign ministers signing a peace deal in Washington on 27 June, a further agreement, reached in a Washington meeting on 17–18 September 2025, would begin implementation on 1 October, according to a joint statement issued by the United States, Qatar, Togo and the African Union Commission.

Measures would involve the withdrawal of Rwandan troops, beginning between October 21 and 31, and eliminate the threat from Congo-based armed group Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).

Congolese military operations targeting the FDLR, a Congo-based armed group that includes remnants of Rwanda`s former army and militias that carried out the 1994 genocide, are meant to conclude over the same timeframe.

Rwanda has long denied backing the notorious March 23 militias operating in DRC and says its forces act only in self-defense against groups including the FDLR. But a group of United Nations Security Council-designated experts reported in July that Kigali exercised command and control over the March 23 rebels, with arms and training for its Rwandan Defense Forces from Israel, which also armed the Rwandan genocide. Rwanda also has since earned the moniker “the Israel of Africa.”

Congo is also participating in direct peace talks with M23 hosted by Qatar, though the two sides missed an August 18 deadline to reach a peace agreement.

The leaders are expected to sign a regional economic integration framework in Washington, which includes elements of cooperation on energy, infrastructure, mineral supply chains, national parks and public health. Congolese minerals such as tungsten, tantalum and tin, which Kinshasa has long accused neighboring Rwanda of illegally exploiting, could now be exported legitimately to Rwanda for processing under the terms of the deal being negotiated by the U.S., which is keen to draw billions of dollars of Western investment to a region. The continuity of U.S. interests across successive administration was demonstrated in former President Joe Biden’s final overseas trip to Angola’s new Lobito Port, one axis of the Lobito Corridor project, part of the new Scramble for Africa, wherein the U.S. rivals China.

At the present juncture, the framework agreements offer little detail about the displaced persons, but cast their references in language that does not yet meet the nominal standard of the human right to remedy, including reparations. Nonetheless, Article 4 of the August Agreement calls for “a safe, voluntary and dignified return of refugees, in coordination with territorial and/or customary authorities, of the respective States, to their countries of origin in a manner consistent with their international legal obligations and the provisions of the Tripartite Agreements on the Voluntary Repatriation of Congolese and Rwandan Refugees signed in Kigali, on 17 February 2010, between the DRC, Rwanda, and UNHCR, recognizing the positive contribution of this mechanism.” However, concerning IDPs, that Agreement “recognize[s] that an end to the conflict is necessary to enable the return of IDPs to their place of origin, in coordination with territorial and customary authorities of the Congolese State.”

Refugee rights defenders still advocate that the DRC and Rwandan governments:

• Actively consult with refugees, returnees, children, women, people with disabilities, and other marginalized groups at all stages of the Road Map. Equip people with the knowledge and resources necessary for meaningful and enduring consultative processes;
• Ensure that refugees have free access to unbiased information and news about conditions in their countries and communities of origin so that they may make an informed decision about what is safest for them;
• Never force or coerce refugees to transfer, leave, or return to another place;
• Ensure that refugees who have a fear of return have the right to seek asylum; providing clear instructions on how to file a claim of asylum and assistance on the application and adjudication process;
• Provide immediate humanitarian and social support to returnees. Allow humanitarian organizations to operate in safety and without arbitrary restrictions to who they can assist;
• Provide continued support to returnees by promoting transparency in the peace process, providing protection to those who need it, and ensuring that local jurisdictions are equipped to welcome returnees. 

Photo: People continue to flee fighting in the eastern DR Congo where Rwanda-backed M23 rebels made major gains in March 2025. Source: Aubin Mukopni/KBC Digital.