Rwanda Challenges MONUSCO FDLR Vetting After Returning Alleged Congolese Civilians

Goma, North Kivu, August 1, 2026 - Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said on August 1 that since October of the previous year, 81 people repatriated by MONUSCO as ex-FDLR combatants had later been found to be Congolese civilians with no Rwandan origin or armed-group record, and that 69 told interviewers they had posed as FDLR fighters to obtain Mutobo demobilisation benefits. He said the Expanded Joint Verification Mechanism had been invited to examine the cases and insisted MONUSCO DDR staff apply professionalism, rigour and integrity. MONUSCO confirmed the return of 39 people while stating it was neither present nor involved in their transfer back into the DRC, and reiterated that DDRRR cases undergo multi-step verification before Rwanda’s demobilisation commission gives final approval.

Those August statements followed the afternoon of 29 July, when 39 people crossed back at the Grande Barrière after time at Mutobo. Returnees said they were Congolese, mainly from Masisi and Rutshuru, who had earlier been transferred to Rwanda under MONUSCO’s DDRRR channel as alleged FDLR members - an affiliation they disputed - and that they had been persuaded to accept that labelling. They were received by AFC/M23 municipal authorities in Goma; deputy spokesperson Oscar Balinda accused MONUSCO and Kinshasa of recruiting and falsely presenting Congolese civilians as FDLR. The episode fed the wider late-July fight over who controls FDLR demobilisation narratives just as Kinshasa was promoting its Washington-framed protocol.