On 18 March, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame called for a ceasefire alongside Qatar after their first meeting since a Rwanda- and Uganda-backed militia displaced more than 700,000 people since January in the eastern DRC.
The talks occurred in Doha the day after the M23 militia withdrew from Angola-brokered peace talks on 18 March. M23 cited EU sanctions imposed on its leaders on 17 March as the reason. M23’s main sponsor—Rwanda—continues to escape meaningful consequences, as recent EU sanctions on the East African country are symbolic slaps on the wrist as DRC minerals are smuggled through the country.
A diplomat speaking anonymously to the Associated Press said the Doha talks ‘aimed at building trust.’
They came a few weeks after a lobbying group, Africa-USA Business Council, sent a letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to pull together a meeting between Tshisekedi and US President Donald Trump to discuss offering the US exclusive mineral access in exchange for security.
Tshisekedi has consistently rejected calls to negotiate with M23, asserting that the group is Rwanda’s proxy for exploiting Congolese minerals. In response, Rwanda claims its military actions are defensive, aimed at countering threats from Congo’s army and allegedly hostile militias, an excuse Western powers continue to tolerate despite overwhelming evidence.
In January, M23 intensified its offensive in eastern Congo, capturing Goma and Bukavu, the DRC’s two largest eastern cities. However, a call for a ceasefire may not deter M23, which has expanded control over large swathes of mineral-rich territories in eastern Congo. As it is, reports say the group generates $800,000 per month in production taxes on coltan in the town of Rubaya.
With the M23 cancelling on Angola talks and the Doha meeting promising a yet undefined path to a ceasefire, long-suffering Congolese continue to bear the brunt of a 30-year Western-backed war over the country’s estimated $24 trillion in mineral wealth.
Sources
https://reporting.unhcr.org/operational/situations/democratic-republic-congo-situation
https://www.barrons.com/articles/east-dr-congo-mines-mint-rwanda-backed-m23-s-fortune-1a70d1ae
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjryjlndddpo
https://www.ecofinagency.com/mining/1203-46493-drc-us-minerals-pact-remains-under-wraps
https://apnews.com/article/congo-rwanda-m23-rebels-meet-qatar-95615a676447781bf104d053a3741658
https://www.caritas.org/2010/02/six-million-dead-in-congos-war