A week after the announcement of British sanctions against Rwanda for its involvement alongside the M23 in the conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kigali is complaining about what it sees as the UK's "betrayal". Meanwhile, Canada and Germany have also announced sanctions for the same reasons.
Following on the heels of British sanctions last week, Canada announced punitive measures on Monday, in response to the M23 offensive in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The sanctions include the suspension of new trade initiatives between the two governments or new export permits for controlled goods and technologies to Kigali.
This week, Germany also announced that it would be suspending its aid to Rwanda.
"We will suspend new financial commitments and high-level meetings with Kigali and review existing cooperation with Rwanda," the German Cooperation Ministry announced in a statement on Tuesday, according to RFI's correspondent in Berlin.
The statement condemns the offensive by the M23 group and denounces a "violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the DRC."
Kigali receives annual aid of 50 million euros per year from Germany, for projects related to economic development, energy, climate protection or vaccine production.
In its talks with Kigali, Berlin has repeatedly called for the withdrawal of Rwandan armed forces from the DRC and an end to their support for the M23.
"During the meeting, it was also stressed that Rwandan security concerns must be taken seriously and that Germany is also in contact with the Congolese side on this issue," the German ministry added.
Betrayal
The Rwandan Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded by saying in a statement published on social media that the German "politicisation" of development cooperation was "wrong and counterproductive."
"Germany contradicts its own claims of supporting the African-led process to resolve the conflict in eastern DRC by letting the DRC off the hook for numerous violations, which only reinforces its belligerent posture and needlessly prolongs the conflict," the ministry also posted in a statement on social media.
The Rwandan authorities describe the European decisions to apply sanction as "shameful".
Kigali is also asking London to pay the outstanding balance of the controversial agreement on sending to Rwanda migrants who arrived illegally in the United Kingdom. This project was abandoned last year when the Labour government came to power.
According to Rwandan government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo, the UK had asked Kigali to “discreetly” waive the final payment under the migration deal with London, based on the trust and good faith that exist between the two nations.
“The British authorities have betrayed this trust,” she continued, by taking “unjustified punitive measures to force Rwanda to compromise its national security.”
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London had announced on 25 February that it was suspending most of its financial aid to Rwanda.
On Monday, when Ottawa announced that it would "suspend the issuance of permits for the export to Rwanda of regulated goods and technologies", it also denounced new government economic projects, and reviewed its participation in international events organised in Rwanda.
Long conflict
The offensive by the M23 has drawn widespread international condemnation.
The Rwanda-backed M23 armed group has seized large swathes of the mineral-rich eastern DRC, in the face of limited resistance from Congolese forces.
It now controls large tracts of the troubled region, and valuable mineral deposits. Its rapid advance has sent thousands fleeing.
Rwandan-backed M23 gains in eastern DRC spark UN warnings and regional fears
Kigali says Kinshasa is collaborating with the FDLR, a military group they accuse of persecuting Congolese Tutsi people and Tutsi refugees from Rwanda, who were pushed to leave during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
"Both governments claim their involvement in conflicts in the eastern part of the DRC are linked to protecting ethnic populations," according to Christopher P. Davey, visiting assistant professor at Binghamton University in New York state and a specialist in the genocide.
"In reality, however, the persistent fighting is destroying economies and livelihoods," he wrote.
