Foreign Affairs Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe questioned the sources used by RFI Afrique in a report on Rwandan refugee returns from the Democratic Republic of Congo, saying the broadcaster had relied on groups he described as linked to the FDLR.
Nduhungirehe was responding to an RFI Afrique report which said 3,752 Rwandan refugees had returned home from the DRC since the beginning of 2026, citing figures from the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR.
RFI said the latest group comprised 366 people, including 304 from Goma, 32 from Bukavu and 30 from Kamanyola.
The broadcaster also reported that movements presenting themselves as close to the refugees had questioned the conditions under which some people from AFC/M23 controlled areas were identified and brought to Rwanda. RFI said UNHCR regarded the repatriations as voluntary, safe and dignified.
Nduhungirehe said the 3,752 returnees had come from areas controlled by AFC/M23 and had been repatriated with the support of UNHCR and MONUSCO.
“It should be noted that these 3,752 refugees, repatriated with the support of UNHCR and MONUSCO, were located in territory controlled by AFC/M23.”
He said the situation was different for Rwandan refugees living in areas under the control of the Congolese government, accusing the FDLR of preventing them from returning home.
“As for the refugees living in the government-controlled zone, they remain held hostage by the genocidal FDLR, who prevent them from returning to their country, subjecting them to miserable living conditions.”
Nduhungirehe also took issue with RFI’s decision to cite groups that questioned the conditions surrounding some of the returns. He alleged that the groups were linked to the FDLR.
“Finally, it is astonishing to observe that RFI Afrique is attempting to lend credibility to the arguments of the ‘movements that present themselves as close to these refugees’ (in other words, the FDLR), who have always obstructed the return of these refugees, because such a return would undermine the main argument of these genocidaires (along with their relays in Europe Jambo-asbl), who portray themselves as the ‘protectors’ of these refugees.”
RFI did not identify the movements it cited as the FDLR. Its report described them as groups presenting themselves as close to the refugees and said they had called for independent verification of the conditions under which some returnees were identified and assembled.
The FDLR remains under United Nations sanctions. The UN Security Council describes it as an armed group operating in eastern DRC and says it has committed serious abuses, including killings, sexual violence and forced displacement.
Some Rwandans who returned from the DRC had previously said the FDLR discouraged them from going back to Rwanda by telling them they would face harm once they returned.
Others said they had been told that they would eventually return after the FDLR had taken control of Rwanda, claims also cited in the original RadioTV10 report.
RADIOTV10