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Rwanda Backtracks on DRC Refugee Eviction Comments

Rwanda government spokesperson Yolande Makolo has said that the country will not expel refugees from DR Congo and that President Kagame's remarks were misrepresented, BBC Africa reports.

Kagame had earlier threatened to evict thousands of Congolese refugees living in Rwanda if the international community continues to blame his country for the conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, writes Geoffrey Mutagoma for Voice of America.

This comes after the DR Congo government and a United Nations report blamed Rwanda for supporting the M23, a mostly Tutsi rebel fighting movement, in the east of nation against the Congo government. Conflict has resulted in thousands fleeing the violence.

According to the Rwandan Ministry of Emergency Management, at least 60% of Rwanda's refugee population is Congolese. Since August 2022, some East African Community member countries, including Burundi and Kenya, deployed their forces in the region to end the conflict.

InFocus

Paul Kagame/Flickr

Rwandan President Paul Kagame (file photo).

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