Following the signing of a protocol between Kinshasa and the genocidal FDLR, an initiative aimed at diverting attention from the implementation of the Washington Peace Agreement, FDLR supporters have intensified their media campaign to portray the group as a protector of Rwandan refugees. Among these supporters, Belgium based Jambo ASBL, most of whose members are relatives of genocide convicts and fugitives, stands out.
In a recent interview with Jambo ASBL, FDLR spokesperson Cure Ngoma claimed that the terror group prioritizes “a political and negotiated solution for lasting peace” and seeks to “protect Rwandan refugees” while enabling them to return to Rwanda with dignity.
Such statements, and the Jambo ASBL led media campaign supporting them, are designed to portray the FDLR as a legitimate representative of refugee interests. This rebranding does not withstand basic scrutiny.
First, under the 2013 UNHCR cessation clause, the international community has concluded that the reasons for which Rwandans fled their country have ceased to exist. This means that all Rwandans can return to their home country in dignity and without fear. They do not need anyone to fight for that inherent right, which is already guaranteed by the Rwandan government.
Rwanda has consistently facilitated the voluntary return and reintegration of its citizens from neighboring countries and beyond. Initiatives such as “Come and See, Go and Tell,” through which the Rwandan government offered passports to members of Rwandan communities in their countries of residence and arranged accommodation for informative visits, are a testament to the fact that there is no justification for taking up arms for a right to return.
Established reintegration mechanisms exist to support returning civilians and combatants and help them rebuild their lives. To date, more than 3,000 Rwandans have returned from the DRC since 2025 and have been treated with the dignity they deserve. Millions have returned since Rwanda’s intervention in Zaire in 1996. Tens of thousands of combatants who had fled to Congo have been demobilized and reintegrated into society. In 1995, over 15,000 ex-FAR soldiers were integrated into the new national army.
These numbers tell the real story: post-genocide Rwanda is open to all its children, with the caveat that those who committed acts of genocide will face justice. Therefore, the only thing standing in the way of full repatriation is a misleading narrative that conflates genocide fugitives and their recruits with Rwandans who have simply not returned since 1994. This very tiny minority refuses to accept the new order in which all Rwandans are treated equally. It wishes for a return to the pre-genocide order, in which Rwandans were treated differently according to their “ethnic” background, with Tutsis regarded as second-class citizens and massacred en masse every ten years or so under various pretexts.
In this crusade to restore an old, genocidal order, the FDLR is the spear with which to destroy what has been built over the past three decades.
Jambo ASBL knows very well that the FDLR are not refugees. They are an armed group that emerged from the remnants of the forces that carried out the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, primarily the genocidal regime’s army and the Interahamwe militias. Over the years, the FDLR has remained committed to extremist ideology, regional destabilization, and violent activities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Equally important, Jambo members know that the FDLR is not a legitimate political party and enjoys no recognition as a negotiating partner under the Washington Peace Agreement. The agreement between Rwanda and the DRC clearly identifies the neutralization of the FDLR as a key security objective. The Concept of Operations (CONOPS) associated with the agreement provides for coordinated measures aimed at dismantling the group’s military capabilities. In this framework, the FDLR is not a stakeholder at the negotiating table; it is the target of the security measures agreed upon by both parties.
Attempts by Jambo ASBL and other advocates to present the FDLR as a “Rwandan refugee movement” are only meant to sanitize the group’s history and obscure its responsibility for violence, insecurity, and extremist mobilization in the Great Lakes region.
The implementation of the Washington Peace Agreement requires concrete action, not the rehabilitation of extremist groups through public relations campaigns. The responsibility of the Congolese authorities is clear: they must fulfill their commitments by neutralizing the FDLR and facilitating the repatriation of eligible FDLR dependents in accordance with agreed mechanisms.
Jambo ASBL and other organizations promoting the FDLR as a refugee movement should recognize a fundamental reality: attempts to rebrand or sanitize this terror group will not alter the Washington Accords.
