The US embassy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) closed on 28 January amidst outraged protesters attacking the property in Kinshasa. The US is among the countries regarded as complicit in neighbouring Rwanda’s support for the M23 rebel group, which has recently seized more territories in the DRC’s mineral-rich east, symbolising US hypocrisy as it preaches democracy while enabling Rwanda’s proxy war in the DRC.
The embassy was among several (French, Belgian, Kenyan, Rwandan and Ugandan) that protesters attacked over these states’ perceived complicity, fueling resentment about the M23’s recent success in capturing vast swaths of eastern DRC territory. Once M23 entered North Kivu province’s capital, Goma, on 27 January, hundreds of thousands of people reportedly fled for safer terrain.
The M23’s campaign comes amidst a three-decades-long conflict over natural resources that foreign powers like the US have their hands in by financially supporting Rwanda, which arms and trains M23.
In 2012, international pressure cancelled aid to Rwanda, forcing the M23 underground. However, in 2021, the M23 renewed its campaign. Meanwhile, Rwanda received $1.25 billion in official development assistance in 2021, equivalent to 74 per cent of central government spending. It also boasts $20 million in security partnerships with the EU over Mozambique and deals with France and the UK in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Many have also accused US tech giants of using minerals looted to make products like smartphones and electric vehicles. In 2024, child miners and their guardians lost a child-labour case against five tech giants in a US court. The plaintiffs have since launched a case against Apple in Europe.
Sources:
News
https://cd.usembassy.gov/security-alert-increased-violence-in-kinshasa
https://www.dw.com/en/dr-congo-people-flee-homes-2025/a-71440536
Rwanda and Int’l community
https://cic.nyu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/The-Resurgence-of-the-M23-EN.pdf
US tech giants complicit in looting