Donate NowMichael Kavanagh, for the Pulitzer Center
Michael Kavanagh traveled to the DRC on a Pulitzer Center grant
Mutobo transit center is where demobilized Rwandans from the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) spend two months preparing to re-enter Rwandan society (they learn about the 'new' Rwanda where there are no more Hutus or Tutsis and blame for the genocide is chalked up to the legacy of colonialism.)
When I was here last in 2004, over 900 former members of rebel groups in eastern Congo welcomed me with a song that went something like "Welcome to our camp, don't worry, we won't hurt you." At the time, UN officials were saying that the reintegration program was starting to slow down; those left in Congo were the FDLR hardcore. Over the last five years, on average, only a few combatants have crossed the border each day.
Today at Mutobo camp there were 118 ex-combatants (see blackboard in photo). But Rwandan officials expect hundreds more in the coming weeks if their military offensive against the FDLR in eastern Congo goes 'as planned.'
We're all wondering how much of the Rwandan plan truly involves welcoming back to the country at least 6,000 men (and their families) with few obvious skills after 15 years in exile in the bush, and how much of it involves killing as many as possible first....