Modern relations between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda have origins that date back to the European colonial era. Sharing a border that is in length, the two countries were both colonial possessions of Belgium between 1919 and 1960, and were impacted by the two world wars. Both Rwanda and the Congo experienced violent upheavals during their first years of independence, with the Congo (named Zaire from 1971 to 1997) being left with a weak central authority, and Rwanda dealing with periodic raids and incursions from expelled Tutsi rebels in the east of the Congo.
In the aftermath of the Rwandan Civil War, and especially the Rwandan genocide, millions of Hutu fled into Zaire, prompting Rwanda and a coalition of allied countries to launch an offensive in 1996. Both the First and Second Congo Wars (which heavily involved Rwanda) devastated the DRC, the damage of which continued to impact the country into the early 21st century. This history of conflict remains a source of tension and distrust between the two states. Since the 2010s, the DRC has accused Rwanda of supporting the M23 movement in the Kivu region, which Rwanda denies. In January 2025, the DRC severed diplomatic ties with Rwanda amidst the M23 campaign.
Early relations (before 1959)
Colonisation
From the 1850s to 1890s, the Kingdom of Rwanda reached its greatest territorial extent during the reign of King Kigeli IV Rwabugiri. During this period, the lands constituting what would eventually become the Congo Free State were placed under the sole, private ownership of King Leopold II of Belgium at the Berlin Conference in 1885. Rwanda itself became the site of competing territorial claims between Leopold and the German Empire, with Germany eventually consolidating the kingdom into German East Africa. Rwabugiri unexpectedly died during an expedition in the Congo; the succession crisis that followed, combined with battles against the Congo's Force Publique, weakened Rwanda, and led King Yuhi V Musinga to support indirect German rule of the country. Due to the intense international criticism of the atrocities committed in the Leopold-owned Congo, Belgium would later annex the colony outright in 1908.Senelle, R., and E. Clément (2009), Léopold II et la Charte Coloniale, Brussels: Editions Mols.
Colonial period
During World War I, an initial stand-off between the Belgian Congo's Force Publique and the German colonial army in German East Africa turned into open warfare, with a joint Anglo-Belgian invasion of the territory in 1916 and 1917 during the East African campaign. In 1916, the Belgians had assembled an army of 15,000 men (supported by roughly 260,000 local bearers), taking Kigali on 6 May and Tabora on 19 September. By 1917, the Force Publique controlled one-third of German East Africa. After the war, as outlined in the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was forced to cede control of the westernmost part of the colony to Belgium. On 20 October 1924, Ruanda-Urundi (modern-day Rwanda and Burundi) became a Belgian League of Nations mandate territory, with Usumbura as its capital.Strachan, H. (2001). The First World War: To Arms. I. New York: Oxford University Press. . In the 1930s, the Belgian colonial administration established a system of encouraging immigration from Ruanda-Urundi to the eastern Congo, both to mitigate population density in the former and provide agricultural labour to the latter. Over 25,000 Rwandans moved to the Masisi Territory between 1937 and 1945, later joined by about 60,000 immigrants between 1949 and 1955. Most of the immigrants were ethnically Hutu, but the number included Tutsi pastoralists. Thousands of people from Ruanda-Urundi also migrated to work in the growing mining industries of Kivu and Katanga during the 1920s to early 1940s. However, because of the poor working conditions of these mines, many Rwandans and Burundians saw either the Tanganyika Territory or the Protectorate of Uganda as preferable places to work, despite Belgian companies attempting to direct them to the Congo.
Both colonies were impacted by World War II; the role of the Congo, and especially its abundance of raw materials, became of interest to the Allies after a German invasion forced the Belgian government into exile in 1940. The Congo's Force Publique also participated in the 1940–1941 campaign against Italian East Africa. In Ruanda-Urundi, a famine devastated the local population in 1943–1944, caused by a combination of drought and the trade policies of colonial authorities, which prioritized sending agricultural products to the Congo for the Allied war effort; as a consequence, between 36,000–50,000 people died,Belgian 1946 estimate, cited in United Nations 1948 estimate, cited in and hundreds of thousands more fled to the Congo or Uganda.
Cold War (1959–1990)
Rwandan Revolution (1959–1961)
During and after the Rwandan Revolution, around 336,000 Tutsi had fled into the countries surrounding the newly independent Rwanda by 1964, including 60,000 who left for Congo-Léopoldville by 1963. During this period, Tutsi insurgent groups began launching largely unsuccessful attacks against the Hutu-dominated Rwanda, including the December 1963 Bugesera invasion.
Tutsi who emigrated to the Congo before Congolese independence from Belgium in 1960 are known as Banyamulenge, meaning "from Mulenge", and had the right to citizenship under law. Tutsi who emigrated following independence are known as Banyarwanda, although locals often do not distinguish between the two, calling both Banyamulenge, and considering them foreigners.
Simba rebellion (1963–1965)
In the midst of the Congo Crisis, mainly Tutsi rebels of the Inyenzi movement reportedly enlisted some defectors of the Armée Nationale Congolaise (ANC; the new name of the Force Publique), and were known to cooperate with pro-Lumumba factions in the Congo in the hopes of achieving future assistance in their insurgency against the Rwandan government. However, the Congolese government was opposed to the radicalisation of the refugees, and tried to curb rebel activity on their soil. Frustrated that Congolese authorities hampered their activities, and radicalised by their repeated failures, Inyenzi rebels based in the Congo joined the Lumumbist Simba rebellion, because they hoped that a Simba-led government would support their own efforts in Rwanda.
Rwandan exiles held prominent positions within the rebel hierarchy, with rebel leader Jerome Katarebe serving as chef de cabinet. After Simba rebels captured Stanleyville (and killed thousands of Westernized Congolese in the process), the Congolese government reacted to the prominent involvement of Rwandan exiles in the rebellion by ordering that all Rwandan refugees were to be expelled from the Congo. Even though the vast majority of Rwandans in the Congo were uninvolved in the uprising and living peacefully, they were consequently the target of ethnic violence and blamed "for all sorts of evil" by Congolese authorities.
Rwandan exiles continued to play an important role for the Simba forces due to the gradual end of other foreign support. The "Rwanadese Popular Movement" and the "Rwanda Youth National Union" led by Jean Kayitare, son of Inyenzi exile leader François Rukeba, each mobilized a battalion to assist the beleaguered Simbas. One Rwandan exile later explained that their continued support for the Simba rebels was mostly motivated by the fact that they were being expelled from other countries such as Burundi, making this "the only choice we had". Despite this, their working relationship with the Congolese insurgents became more strained. The Simba rebels also alienated the Banyamulenge who lived in South Kivu during this time, as the retreating insurgents killed the Banyamulenge's cows for food. Even though they were related to ethnic Rwandans, the Banyamulenge had previously tried to remain neutral and now opted to side with the Congolese government. They organized militias and began to hunt for the rebels.
By April 1965, several thousand pro-Simba Rwandan militants operated in eastern Congo, but their support did little to stem the ANC's advance. One Rwandan rebel leader told Che Guevara that he was losing so many of his fighters that the exiles' plans to invade Rwanda in future had become almost impossible. By the late 1960s, Rwandan exiles no longer played a significant role in guerrilla warfare against the government.
Rwanda–Zaire relations (1965–1990)
Official diplomatic relations between the now independent Rwanda and Congo began in February 1969. After coming to power in the Congo in 1965, President Mobutu Sese Seko (who renamed the country Zaire in 1971) gave the Banyamulenge political power in the east in hopes that they, as a minority, would keep a tight grip on power, and prevent more populous ethnicities from forming an opposition. The "Bakajika Law" of 1966 nationalised all land in the country, and thus the government was able to redistribute it as it wished. This resulted in property in northern Kivu becoming concentrated in the hands of wealthy Tutsi. The Banyarwanda were also formally assured of citizenship by law in 1972. These moves aggravated existing ethnic tensions, as it strengthened the Banyarwanda's hold over important stretches of land in North Kivu that indigenous people claimed as their own. From 1963 to 1966 the Hunde and Nande ethnic groups of North Kivu fought against Rwandan emigrants(no page numbers) — both Tutsi and Hutu – in the Kanyarwanda War, which led to several massacres.
Despite a strong Rwandan presence in Mobutu's government, in 1981, the Legislative Council of Zaire adopted a more restrictive stance on citizenship, replacing the old laws with an ordinance guaranteeing citizenship only to those individuals whose ancestors belonged to tribes which has resided in the Congo before 1908. Though never enforced, the law greatly angered individuals of Rwandan descent, and contributed to a rising sense of ethnic hatred.
Immediate post-Cold War era (1990–2003) Rwandan Civil War, genocide and ripple effects (1990–1996)
The Rwandan Civil War began in October 1990, after the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a rebel force of mostly Tutsi Rwandan refugees and expats, launched an attack from across the Rwanda–Uganda border. President Mobutu attempted to provide support to Rwanda by sending hundreds of troops from the elite Special Presidential Division (DSP). However, after Zairian soldiers raped Rwandan civilians in the north of the country and looted their homes, Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana expelled them within a week of their arrival. Due to political exclusion and ethnic violence in Zaire, the Banyamulenge developed ties to the RPF as early as 1991. On 6 April 1994, Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira were assassinated after their plane was shot down by surface-to-air missiles, breaking the 1993 peace treaty. Beginning the day after, Hutu extremists carried out a genocide that killed 500,000–800,000 Tutsi, The lower bound for Tutsi deaths is 491,000 (McDoom), see page 75 mention as well as 10,000 Batwa and some moderate Hutu, between 7 April and 15 July 1994. In response to this, the RPF resumed their military campaign, defeating the government and taking complete control of the country on 18 July. This caused around 1.5 million Hutu – including those who perpetrated the genocide – to flee into Zaire, fearing reprisals. Hutu génocidaires soon began to rearm, in a bid to return to power in Rwanda.