Wed. Feb 12th, 2025

Brussels, 30 January 2025

At an extraordinary meeting of the European Parliament’s Delegation to the Africa-EU Parliamentary Assembly, MEPs called for action to protect civilians.

On 30 January, the European Parliament’s Delegation to the Africa-EU Parliamentary Assembly held an extraordinary meeting to discuss the critical situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo following the capture by M23 rebels of the city of Goma. The event featured contributions from EU Special Representative for the Great Lakes region Johan Borgstram and SRSG and Head of Monusco Bintou Keita, and at the session Chair of the Delegation Hilde Vautmans (Renew, BE) said:

Following the seizure of Goma by M23 with Rwanda’s active support, the situation in the DRC and the Great Lakes is at a breaking point. We must act now. Taking into account the very difficult circumstances, the United Nations need our full backing.

”The protection of civilians and respect for humanitarian law should be considered of utmost importance, and the international community should act to ensure humanitarian access, by making sure that humanitarian corridors are created and that Goma’s airport and borders remain open. In South Kivu, the personnel of the Panzi hospital that was founded by Nobel Prize and Sakharov Prize winner Dr Denis Mukwege fear for their lives and should be protected, along with other civilians.”

“Given the blatant evidence that Rwanda is involved in supporting the M23 rebels in eastern Congo, the adoption of urgent measures by the EU is required, including targeted sanctions, the freezing of EU development assistance and the immediate suspension of the Memorandum of Understanding on Sustainable Raw Materials Value Chains with Rwanda.”

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