Africa-Press – Rwanda. Rwanda will “never force” dozens of Congolese soldiers who fled fighting with M23 rebels to return to DR Congo, according to Vincent Karega, the ambassador-at-large to the Great Lakes Region.
Karega said this as he spoke to reporters in Rubavu District, where more than 100 Congolese soldiers and their allied FDLR and Wazalendo elements were received on Monday after the M23 rebels captured the city of Goma.
VIDEO: Rubavu residents hope ‘DR Congo chaos ends soon’
“Rwanda, like any country that respects international law, whoever comes as a refugee and is in a distressful situation, is welcome and will get the support that we give to all people in difficult situations,’ Karega said.
At Vision Jeunesse Nouvelle, a facility in Rubavu, there were at least 113 fighters who ran to Rwanda on Monday. They were disarmed and some of them were being treated from their injuries.
“Their future will be determined by the situation in their country. Either, they will return to DRC, their country, or they will want to be refugees until the day they feel comfortable to return, or they become permanent migrants in Rwanda.
“It all depends on how the situation evolves, their will, and so on… because we never force refugees to return forcefully to the country they ran away from.”
One of the Congolese soldiers, Lt Kasereka Tshombe, said they fled to Rwanda after they were “defeated” by M23 rebels.
“There was fighting in all of Goma; fighting was going on in every part,” Tshombe told reporters on Tuesday.
“We did not have any command. Every soldier run away… Our commanders, when fighting got worse, they fled to Bukavu,” he said, adding that the senior officers included majors and colonels.
Karega noted that bombshells from DR Congo had killed Rwandan civilians on Monday and destroyed homes and infrastructure. The Rwanda Defence Force said as of Monday, five Rwandans had been killed by the bombshells and at least 35 were injured.
Businesses and schools in Rubavu were ordered to close as the Congolese army and FDLR genocidal militia fired on Rwanda from Goma.
The death toll rose to nine, Deputy Government Spokesperson Alain Mukuralinda told the national broadcaster RBA on Tuesday. At least five houses were destroyed.
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