Rwandan FM defends backing M23

Newshour

BBC

News, Daily News

4.4 • 984 Ratings

🗓️ 31 January 2025

⏱️ 48 minutes

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Summary

There has been fierce fighting as Rwanda-backed M23 rebels advance towards the second-largest city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, marking a further escalation in the region's conflict. Rwanda's foreign minister, Olivier Nduhungirehe, tells Newshour why his country is backing M23 rebels in eastern Congo. And France's UN ambassador, Nicolas de Riviere, explains why Western governments haven't yet sanctioned Rwanda for that support.

Also in the programme, why an alliance between Germany's conservatives and the far right has failed to pass legislation to restrict immigration.

And the tens of thousands of Ukrainians missing in the wake of Russia's invasion and the grief of their families.

(Photo: Thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes due to the fighting. Credit: EPA)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Newsar from the BBC World Service.
0:07.2	Coming to you live from our studios in central London.
0:10.3	I'm Julian Marshall.
0:12.2	And we begin today in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the east of the country, which borders Rwanda.
0:19.2	It's a mineral-rich region of the DRC and politically
0:22.4	unsettled, and it's currently convulsed by an offensive by the M23 rebel group.
0:29.3	Thousands have been displaced as the Rwandan-backed rebels pursue an offensive, which has so far
0:35.0	resulted in the capture of the eastern city of Goma. The rebels are
0:39.6	now advancing south towards the city of Bukavu, but their progress has reportedly been slowed.
0:46.5	Today, the UN's spokesman, Stefan Dujari, gave an assessment of the numbers of people killed
0:52.0	and injured in the fighting in Goma.
0:55.3	The World Health Organization and its partners conducted an assessment with the government
0:59.7	that's between the 26th and yesterday,
1:02.6	and report that 700 people have been killed and 2,800 people injured
1:08.2	that are receiving treatment in health facilities. These numbers are expected
1:12.9	to rise as more information becomes available. And a short while ago, we got through the BBC
1:18.2	reporter Paul Inger, who's in Gisangie on the Rwandan side of the border, crossing with the DRC.
1:25.6	So what's been happening today? We've seen people coming in from the DRC,
1:30.1	moving into Rwanda through the Gisany border.
1:33.3	And they've been coming basically with whatever they could find,
1:36.9	whatever they could come up with.
1:39.0	Some people came in with their clothes in loincloths,
	...

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