After spending several months at the Mutobo demobilization center, 214 people affiliated with armed groups were officially reintegrated this week in Rwanda.
According to Rwandan authorities, among them are suspected members of the FDLR, rebels who have been based in eastern DR Congo for nearly thirty years. The group is made up of both former fighters and civilians associated with these armed movements.
During their stay in Mutobo, they followed a reintegration program focused on civic education, social support, and preparation for their return to their communities of origin.
According to the Rwanda Demobilization and Reintegration Commission, more than 12,000 people have been assisted since 2001 under this national program.
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The issue of the FDLR, an armed group born partly from former leaders and participants in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, remains at the heart of Kigali’s security concerns – an issue regularly highlighted, including during recent diplomatic talks held in Washington.
For the president of the Commission, Valérie Nyirahabineza, the success of reintegration also depends on the attitude of host communities.
Her message is clear: “It is essential to prepare not only families but entire communities to accept them, and to stop seeing them solely as fighters. Once they have agreed to lay down their arms, we must give them the benefit of the doubt.”
At the end of the program, the beneficiaries return to their home villages. More than half of the 214 people reintegrated this week are expected to go back to Rubavu district, on the border with Goma.
