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The UK has suspended defence training and financial aid for Rwanda over its alleged role in the conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, warning that further sanctions will follow unless the country withdraws troops from its neighbour.
Rwanda is under growing international pressure over its alleged support for M23 rebels, who since last month have taken a swath of mineral-rich territory and the two largest eastern cities, Goma and Bukavu. Thousands of people have been killed or driven from camps housing the displaced during recent fighting.
According to the UN, Rwanda has thousands of troops deployed in Congo. But President Paul Kagame’s government denies supporting the rebels, while claiming that his army is defending itself against hostile forces.
The aid freeze marks a dramatic turnaround in UK-Rwanda ties. Under the previous Conservative government Kigali received more than £300mn as part of a deal to receive asylum seekers from the UK. The Labour party cancelled the agreement after it won power last July. No asylum seekers were ever sent to the east African country.
The UK’s foreign ministry on Tuesday called for an “immediate cessation of hostilities, humanitarian access . . . meaningful engagement with African-led peace processes, and the withdrawal of all Rwandan Defence Forces from Congolese territory”.
Its statement added: “Rwanda may have security concerns, but it is unacceptable to resolve these militarily. There can only be a political solution to this conflict.”
Regional peace efforts have done little to halt the rebels’ offensive.
Rwanda has been one of the largest recipients of UK aid in Africa since Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic Front seized power in 1994 after ending a genocide against ethnic Tutsis. But the tiny central African nation’s destabilising role in eastern DR Congo has periodically disrupted bilateral relations.
Britain’s decision to sanction Kigali followed a meeting between foreign secretary David Lammy and DR Congo President Félix Tshisekedi at the weekend.
The UK said that until significant progress towards peace was made, it would cease “high level attendance” at events hosted by Rwanda, pause bilateral financial aid “excluding support to the poorest” and suspend future defence training assistance.
London also said it would also “co-ordinate with partners” on potential further sanctions. The announcement came as Sir Keir Starmer, the UK prime minister, separately slashed the UK’s aid budget to fund increased defence spending.
The US, which has also been a strong supporter of Kagame’s regime, took action last week over the spiralling conflict in eastern Congo. The Treasury department imposed sanctions on James Kabarebe, Rwanda’s minister of state for regional integration and a former army chief.
The US Treasury said Kabarebe, one of Kagame’s closest henchmen and an architect of past military strategy in DR Congo, was central to Rwandan support of the M23, and managed revenue generated by the rebel group from Congolese mineral resources.
Rwanda’s foreign ministry said the US move was unjustified and that the UK’s position would do nothing towards achieving peace.
“The punitive measures announced today by the UK government in response to the conflict in eastern DR Congo — where the UK has now clearly chosen a side — are regrettable,” it said on Tuesday.
