The capture of Goma city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and its surrounding rural areas still holds many intriguing surprises.
Hundreds of mercenaries, primarily from Romania, but also including individuals from other Eastern European countries like Bulgaria, Belarus, and Georgia, as well as some from France crossing over, SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMDRC) forces, mostly from South Africa, withdraw with their ammunition and weapons returning home, including pregnant women, injured forces, and those still carrying their belongings passing through here amidst the shame they deserve.
Until now, however, we had not seen our people who have been swallowed up by a “monstrous creature” known as FDLR, a terrorist group consisting of remnants that terrorized Rwanda, committing the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.
On May 17, 2025, the first group of captured Rwandans was released and returned home when the FARDC and its allies, including the FDLR, were driven out by the M23 movement from Goma at the end of January this year.
When FARDC and FDLR were defeated, they lost, among others, Rwandans who had fled for over 30 years, but FDLR always concealed this, telling them that those who return to Rwanda will be killed, and that Rwanda is a hell.
There were 360 returnees, but they left behind over two thousand others awaiting for UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) vehicles to continue transporting them until Monday, May 19, 2025.
Among the returnees are young children denied the opportunities granted to other Rwandan children — in the first thousand days of a child’s development (from conception to birth, including early childhood).
This program ensures that children grow healthily, with special care given to them and their mothers. Prosper Mulindwa, the Mayor of Rubavu District, said that among the returning parents, there were those with children suffering from malnutrition.
This is not surprising because in the DRC bushes, their planning does not go beyond the forests.
This means that these children didn’t get access to proper early childhood care and development in homes; while elsewhere, they are given Kibondo Shisha, (fortified foods), milk, and other child development support tools that promote proper growth.
I cannot speak of children living in hardship who have not yet started school, while back home in Rwanda they have access to free basic education for twelve years and an education where children learn life skills and trades by the age of sixteen or seventeen, so as to start working to earn an income.
Among those who have returned are youth who never had the chance to participate in development-related programs, where they could learn trades and become self-sufficient. A young Rwandan, even if not in school, might undertake an agricultural project, collaborate with others through RYAF (Youth Agricultural Investment Fund), which is a youth investment platform in agriculture.
In Rwanda, youth are very active because they are the foundation of development. I even see now that obtaining a driver’s license, starting from a motorcycle license, is a very profitable venture.
In the DRC bushes , some young men might not have been part of FDLR, and I don’t know if they were spared. What FDLR wanted was workers—helping it continue hiding, stealing, and committing violence where it is stationed, including continuing to commit genocide crimes.
Some returnees are strong men who could have helped the country continue to develop, raising children properly in Rwandan homes. But they were in the forest, where stealing and supporting each other was common and not a concern.
I have also seen elders among the men who were supposed to be asking the young men for marriage, or who arranged marriages for weddings. Those unable to handle marriage, at least they could name cows, but in the forest, they don’t do that. They don’t name cows, they just kill them once they find them.
Meanwhile, the parents—those who gave birth—also remain captives. Now, they are starting from scratch—vegetable gardens, evening meals for parents, and village kitchens.
These families undoubtedly suffered illnesses and lacked medicines, and while in Rwanda, where they came from, a person can pay RWF 3,000 for health insurance and get treatment for the whole year.
It is also likely that among these youth, some could be good community health workers that are needed by their neighbors. But did they get a chance to learn this from former soldiers who were in Rwanda, who escaped across borders fleeing their wrongdoings and choose to hide under fake names to avoid being discovered?
Among these returnees, are there some who could fight against drug abuse? It would be difficult, because where they came from they were drug addicts. However, at whatever stage of life they are in, they should be properly integrated into families, taught how to use the digital e-service platform (Irembo), trained to pay health insurance on time, and encouraged to join RNIT (Rwanda National Investment Trust), so they don’t fall behind on the current progress.
They should be taught to respect the progress we’ve achieved, to watch out for one another, and to understand that it is criminal to abuse a child, a spouse/ partner, or take the law in your hands.
Teach them about technology and how to avoid crimes related to it, and tell them that there are people calling themselves MTN agents who send messages trying to con someone on a phone call. Just tell them that this is not a serious problem, but that this is what comes with development.
