Strasbourg, 13 February 2025
-
Occupation of Goma breaches the Democratic Republic of Congo’s sovereignty and territorial integrity
-
Humanitarian operations should be resumed immediately
-
Those responsible for war crimes must be prosecuted
-
Support for the Luanda and Nairobi peace processes
The Rwandan government must withdraw its troops from the Democratic Republic of Congo’s territory and cease cooperation with the M23 rebels, Parliament says. In a resolution adopted on Thursday, 13 February, MEPs strongly condemn the occupation of Goma and other territories in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by M23 rebels and the Rwandan defence forces as an anacceptable breach of the DRC’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
MEPs denounce the indiscriminate attacks involving explosive weapons as well as unlawful killing, rape, and other apparent war crimes in populated areas of North Kivu by all parties. They deplore the use of forced labour, forced recruitment, and other abusive practices, by M23 with the support of Rwanda’s military, and by the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC).
Critical humanitarian situation
Calling for an immediate end to the violence, particularly the mass killings and the use of rape as a strategic weapon of war, Parliament urges the DRC and Rwanda to investigate and prosecute those responsible for war crimes, including sexual violence, under the principle of command responsibility. MEPs also say that any attack on United Nations-mandated forces is inexcusable and may be considered a war crime.
MEPs are extremely concerned about the critical humanitarian situation in the country and demand the immediate reopening of Goma airport and the creation of humanitarian corridors to re-establish humanitarian operations in eastern DRC.
Immediate suspension of EU Memorandum of Understanding with Rwanda
Parliament regrets the European Union’s failure to take appropriate measures to address the crisis and pressure Rwanda to end its support for M23. It urges the European Commission and the Council to immediately suspend the EU’s Memorandum of Understanding on Sustainable Raw Materials Value Chains with Rwanda, until the country ceases all interference in the DRC, including exporting minerals mined from M23-controlled areas.
MEPs also call on the Commission, EU member states and international financial institutions to freeze direct budget support for Rwanda until it allows for humanitarian access to the crisis area and breaks all links with M23. The Commission and EU countries should also halt their military and security assistance to the Rwandan armed forces to avoid contributing directly or indirectly to abusive military operations in eastern DRC.
MEPs are concerned about the consequences of Russian interference in the conflict, as well as the increasing presence of Chinese actors in the DRC’s mining sector and in wider region and working without respect for economic and social responsibility.
Support for peace negotiations
Parliament welcomes the joint SADC and EAC peace summit held in Dar es Salaam on 8 February and expresses its full support for the Luanda and Nairobi peace processes. MEPs call on all countries in the Great Lakes region, in particular the DRC and Rwanda, to urgently pursue negotiations under these frameworks.
The resolution was adopted with 443 votes in favour, 4 against and 48 abstentions.
Further information
Speech by Commissioner Šuica at the European Parliament plenary on the Democratic Republic of Congo
Strasbourg,11 February 2025
“Check against delivery”
President, Honourable Members of the European Parliament,
What is happening in the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) is not a new crisis. It is an escalation of the crisis within the crisis.
The humanitarian situation is devastating:
already before the latest developments, there were 800,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) around Goma, cramped in heavily populated sites for displaced persons.
Since the attack on Goma by M23 and the Rwanda Army, many displacement sites are now reported to have been emptied:
some occupants have fled to other neighbourhoods of Goma, others have attempted to return to their villages in the Masisi and Rutshuru territories, which are currently under M23 control.
The risk of forced closure of the remaining sites is high due to the policy of M23, which opposes the presence of this kind of sites in areas under its control.
There are reports from Goma of around 3,000 deaths caused by the fighting, with bodies in the streets and overloaded morgues.
All hospitals in this town are overcrowded and many are operating at twice their capacity. The threat for epidemics such as cholera is growing.
Humanitarian actors are slowly coming back now that the fighting is over, and assessments for restarting the response as soon as possible are ongoing notably at sites for displaced and medical facilities.
However, the response is severely hampered by the security situation, and by a lack of available commodities, as many warehouses of humanitarian aid agencies were broken into and looted during the fighting.
The airport of Goma was damaged in the fighting and is not operational for humanitarian aid flights.
Humanitarian access to the most vulnerable people has been limited and remains a challenge where fighting is taking place. We need urgent political action to secure a humanitarian truce, ensure the protection of civilians, and enable full humanitarian access.
The EU has insisted on key humanitarian messages to all parties in conflict:
- Keep borders open for refugeesand humanitarian workers.
- Allow humanitarian corridorswhere appropriate and ensure principled humanitarian access.
- Ensure the protection of civiliansand respect for International Humanitarian Law, particularly with the increased risk of gender-based violence in this context.
- Preserve the safety of humanitarian staff, health workers, and medical facilities.
- Engage in negotiations for a humanitarian truce.
It is imperative that the airport in Goma re-open for humanitarian flights, to allow our partners to re-supply their looted stocks, and to bring in much-needed life-saving equipment.
The EU stands ready to continue supporting the humanitarian response.
The EU alone is the second largest humanitarian aid donorin the DRC.
We have allocated EUR 112 million in humanitarian aid to the DRC last year. EU Member States are also strongly contributing to the response.
As response to this new “crisis within a crisis”, the Commission has accelerated the disbursement of its initial 2025 budget for DRC of EUR 60 million.
We are currently establishing which humanitarian partners still have to capacity to effectively intervene.
On that basis we have pre-selected the first six partners already on 27 January, while the fighting for Goma was still raging, for urgent interventions over EUR 25 million of the EUR 60 million announced.
We are now ensuring that these funds will be disbursed without delay.
Thank you.
—
CLOSING REMARKS
Honourable Members,
Thank you for your interventions.
The EU will continue its efforts to bring humanitarian assistance to those in need, despite all the difficulties.
But it is clear that humanitarian aid is insufficient in view of the dimension of this crisis.
We must use all the political tools at our disposal to urgently bring an end to the fighting.
Thank you.
Source – EU Commission
Renew Europe on the DRC: The EU must act urgently to avoid a potential regional war
Strasbourg 13 February 2025
The Renew Europe Group in the European Parliament strongly condemns the occupation of Goma and other territories in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo by the armed rebel group M23 and the Rwanda Defence Forces, a clear violation of international law, the UN Charter and of country’s territorial integrity.
Moreover, the attacks with explosive weapons in populated areas and use of sexual violence against women and girls as a tool of repression and weapon of war, together with the unacceptable recruitment of child soldiers by the various rebel groups, must stop and be addressed by the international community.
In a resolution today adopted by the plenary proposed by our political group, we demand the adoption of urgent measures by the EU, including targeted sanctions, the freezing of the direct budget support to Rwanda, the immediate suspension of the Memorandum of Understanding on Sustainable Raw Materials Value Chains with Rwanda and to effectively ban the entry of all blood minerals into the EU.
MEP, Hilde Vautmans (Open Vld, Belgium), Chair of the Delegation to the Africa-EU Parliamentary Assembly and Renew Europe Group’s Coordinator in the Committee on Foreign Affairs, who led the negotiations on the resolution, said:
“We have all seen the chilling images. Images of murdered mums with tiny babies in their arms. The reality there is horrific. That is why we adopted a strong resolution, carried by a broad majority. The European Parliament calls for sanctions against those responsible for the violence, but also against Rwanda as a country in breach with international law. We want complete freeze of all European aid to Rwanda (including Global Gateway Funding) and the cancellation of the 2025 Cycling Championships in Kigali. The European Commission and the member states should get humanitarian aid going, secured by a strengthened UN mandate for peacekeeping to restore stability in the region.”
Source – Renew Europe (by email)