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The UK’s decision to suspend some aid to Rwanda is “punitive”, authorities in the East African country have said.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the UK said it was against Rwanda’s support for the M23, a rebel group that has captured swathes of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in a deadly uprising.<\/p>\n
Rwanda used to deny backing the M23, but recently it has adopted a more defensive line, saying fighting near the border between DR Congo and Rwanda is a threat to its security.<\/p>\n
More than 7,000 people have died and hundreds of thousands have fled their homes since the conflict escalated in January, DR Congo’s government says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The UK said the humanitarian situation in DR Congo was “critical” and that it would halt bilateral aid to Rwanda, “excluding support to the poorest and most vulnerable”.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Rwanda receives about \u00a332m ($40m) of bilateral aid from the UK every year.<\/p>\n
Along with the suspension of aid, the UK will impose other measures, such as looking into potential sanctions and suspending “future defence training assistance”, the statement said.<\/p>\n
These measures will last until “significant progress” is made in ceasing hostilities and withdrawing Rwandan military personnel from DR Congo, it added.<\/p>\n
UN experts have previously estimated that between 3,000 and 4,000 Rwandan troops are in eastern DR Congo.<\/p>\n
Rwanda’s foreign ministry said the “punitive measures” announced by the UK government “in response to the conflict in eastern DRC – where the UK has now clearly chosen a side – are regrettable”.<\/p>\n
“The measures do nothing to help the Democratic Republic of Congo, nor do they contribute to achieving a sustainable political solution to the conflict in eastern DRC.”<\/p>\n
The UK has previously enjoyed good relations with Rwanda. In 2022, the two countries signed a multi-million pound deal, in which some asylum seekers arriving on British soil would be deported to Rwanda.<\/p>\n
The deal faced legal challenges and was scrapped last year after a change in the UK’s government.<\/p>\n
DR Congo’s government has been campaigning for international powers to suspend aid and impose sanctions on Rwanda.<\/p>\n
Last week, the US Treasury Department said it had imposed sanctions on Rwanda’s Minister of State for Regional Integration, James Kabarebe. <\/p>\n
The US accused Kabarebe, a former army chief, of being central to Rwanda’s support for M23.<\/p>\n
Also sanctioned was Lawrence Kanyuka, the M23’s spokesman, as well as two companies he controlled in France and the UK, the US Treasury said.<\/p>\n
Responding to the US move, Rwanda’s foreign ministry said the sanctions were “unjustified”.<\/p>\n
The M23 says it is fighting to achieve better rights for the Tutsis<\/a>, an ethnic minority group in DR Congo, and to bring order to a failed state.<\/p>\n The rebels have captured eastern DR Congo’s two biggest cities, Goma and Bukavu.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n