Eastern DRC conflict: Why Belgium Should Reconsider Its Approach

EACRF forces and M23 in Kibumba, Eastern DRC. 2022 (Image by AFP)

Over the past three years, the March 23 Rebels have resurged in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, fighting the governmental forces and taking over huge territories in the two Kivus. After the M23 took over Goma in January 2025 - the capital city of North Kivu - a lot of Western countries rose to condemn and impose sanctions against Rwanda and M23. Among the institutions condemning the alleged role of Rwanda is the European Union, which on March 17, 2025, released a list of sanctioned Rwandan military leaders and entities that allegedly collaborate with M23. One of the proponents of sanctions against Rwanda is Belgium, a country with a major colonial history in Africa's Great Lakes region that includes Burundi, the DRC, and Rwanda.

Belgium's decision to blindly side with the DRC government and push for Rwanda to be sanctioned has been counterproductive, and the two countries later halted their diplomatic relations completely. Belgium's foreign affairs minister's ongoing visit to the region has been mainly viewed as a reaction to the US's initiative to bring Rwanda and the DRC to the negotiating table.

However, Belgium's disproportionate stance to stand with one side in the conflict made it impossible for them to positively contribute to conflict resolution in Eastern DRC. The roots of the plight of the Kinyarwanda-speaking population in Eastern DRC lie in the Berlin conference, where European countries drew borders of the African continent without taking into consideration the existing political and socioeconomic realities on the ground. The King of Belgium, Leopold II, was given the Congo, which he considered his personal property. Rwanda and Burundi were later put under Belgium's colony after Germany lost World War I.

Belgium introduced ethnic groups in Rwanda, turning existing dynamic social classes into permanent ethnic groups. From then on, Rwanda, like its southern neighbour Burundi, was to face harsh and conflictual relations among its cattle keepers (Tutsi), cultivators (Hutu), and the hunter-gatherers (Twa).

A part of the Kingdom of Rwanda was cut and added to the Belgian Congo. This includes regions like Rutshuru, Nyiragongo, and parts of Masisi in today's DRC. Belgium also contributed to the emigration of Rwandans to areas in the DRC from 1937 to the mid-1950s as the labour force in the mines and the fields. After the DRC obtained its independence, these Kinyarwanda-speaking communities became stateless and left on their own, and were harassed by their neighbouring Congolese communities who labelled them as foreigners.

The M-23 rebel movement claims to fight for the rights of these marginalised Kinyarwanda-speaking communities, while the DRC government labels them as occupying forces that should go back to their "country of origin", Rwanda.

Seeing Belgium today taking sides in a conflict that it has indirectly contributed to through its colonial policies is despicable. The Belgian government, blinded by its mining interests in the DRC, has chosen to close its eyes to the suffering of the Kinyarwanda-speaking communities.

Simplifying the Eastern DRC conflict to an "economic war by Rwanda that wants to exploit Congolese mineral resources" should be stopped. The Eastern DRC conflict is not just about minerals, as it is mostly portrayed in Western media. It is also about serious and tangible grievances of a community that wants its voice heard and its right to a decent life respected. And if the Congolese government is unwilling to provide security and welfare to the Kinyarwanda-speaking communities, the world should not blame the latter for standing up for their rights.

Belgium should rethink its approach to the Eastern DRC conflict and play a neutral and mediating role. Belgium should abandon its patronising foreign policy vis-à-vis Africa's Great Lakes region to avoid being left behind during the incoming conflict resolution phase, otherwise, it might suffer the same fate as France in West Africa.