DR Congo conflict: Why is the EU under pressure to reconsider its minerals partnership with Rwanda?

euronews (in English)

Diplomatic sources say the bloc is facing calls to suspend its wide-ranging minerals agreement with Rwanda amid fears it is inflaming the escalating conflict in eastern DRC.

Transcript

00:00Why is the EU under pressure to suspend its mineral deal with Rwanda?

00:08As conflict grips the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo,

00:13the EU executive in Brussels is being asked to reconsider its mineral deal with neighbouring

00:19Rwanda. If we fail to respond decisively, we will not only betray the people of Congo,

00:26but also weaken Europe's own strategic interests.

00:30Over the past days, a rebel group known as M23 that is backed by the Rwandan armed forces

00:36advanced on the city of Goma in eastern DRC in an incursion condemned by the international

00:43community. Ethnic tensions and armed conflicts have plagued the region for the past 30 years.

00:48The DRC's borderland areas of north and south Kivu are extremely rich in resources and dense

00:54with mines. M23 rebels have reportedly been illegally plundering materials from DRC territory

01:01and exporting them to Rwanda. This is an extract from a UN report in July last year which says that

01:07M23 established a parallel administration controlling mining activities, fraudulently

01:14exporting at least 150 tons of coltan, a critical raw material, to Rwanda. The EU's role has come

01:22under the spotlight because in February last year it signed a memorandum of understanding with

01:28Rwanda intended to boost the supply of critical raw materials used to produce things like smartphones

01:35and electric cars. But experts told us that there is overwhelming evidence to show that Rwanda

01:40exports more raw materials and minerals than it mines. Critics say the EU is turning a blind eye

01:48to illicit activities. Belgium is leading calls for the deal to be suspended until Rwanda ceases

01:54its support to the rebels. The EU has so far not responded to those calls.

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