EU facing pressure to drop Rwanda mineral deal over DRC involvement – but fears China could step in

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EU facing pressure to drop Rwanda mineral deal over DRC involvement - but fears China could step in

Fractures are forming in Brussels over the escalating conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda’s involvement.

Belgian members of the European Parliament are pressuring the European Union (EU) to suspend a controversial mineral resources deal with Rwanda after the deadly capture of the provincial capital of eastern DRC by Rwanda-backed M23 rebels.

The bloodshed in Goma has left at least 900 people dead and close to 3,000 wounded.

The battles for its control included artillery and mortar exchange with neighbouring Rwanda witnessed by Sky News.

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EU facing pressure to drop Rwanda mineral deal over DRC involvement - but fears China could step in

The takeover comes after M23 captured large swathes of mining territory in eastern DRC and supply routes for the export of minerals to Rwanda – confirmed by a UN panel of experts’ report that also says the rebel group makes $800,000 (£644,960) a month in taxes in mining areas.

Even as the rebels were seizing key mining areas, the EU signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Rwanda to “nurture sustainable and resilient value chains for critical raw materials” for “green and clean energy objectives” last February – a move that shocked minerals experts in Europe.

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“Many argued that securing a supply of critical minerals for the EU’s energy transition should not come at the expense of responsible sourcing.

“Several NGOs and the UN Group of Experts on the DRC have reported the smuggling of 3T – Tin, Tungsten & Tantalum – from the DRC to Rwanda, a concern reflected in Rwanda’s trade data – particularly the discrepancy between its production capacity and export and import figures,” says Hélène Helbig de Balzac, a due diligence expert at HIVE.

“Today, with the M23’s takeover of resource-rich areas in eastern DRC, the risk of minerals linked to human rights abuses entering Rwanda’s 3T supply chain is even more real.”

EU facing pressure to drop Rwanda mineral deal over DRC involvement - but fears China could step in

Belgian MEP, Hilde Vautmans, of the Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten party, has told Sky News the suspension of the agreement should be “temporary yet resolute, lasting as long as necessary to curb illegal mining in eastern DRC”.

Marc Botenga, another Belgian MEP says: “This MOU needs to be suspended. In fact, it should have never been signed.

“We know there are Rwandan soldiers on Congolese soil and that is done to steal, to pillage certain natural resources.

“In fact, this MOU with Rwanda encourages these troops, these armed gangs to do this because this agreement (MOU) facilitates the export of raw materials by Rwanda into European and international markets. And thus for Rwanda the more they can export the better.”

EU facing pressure to drop Rwanda mineral deal over DRC involvement - but fears China could step in

‘Rwanda has crossed the line so far’

Belgium is known for its extremely brutal colonisation of the Congo and later, Rwanda – a period said by many to have planted the seeds of tribalism that led to the Rwandan 1994 genocide.

When Sky News asked a Belgian official in the European Parliament about the impact of colonialism on this conflict, he replied: “That will always be there but Rwanda has crossed the line so far that Kagame cannot be hiding behind any colonial past.”

The Belgium government is accused of posturing in this conflict to strengthen its waning ties with DRC’s government in Kinshasa.

Last week, the EU condemned the takeover of Goma and Rwanda’s backing of M23 rebels in a statement by the high representative urging “M23 to stop its advance and withdraw immediately”.

“The EU reiterates that Rwanda must cease its support for the M23 and withdraw.”

The statement also condemned the cooperation with the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda), born out of the militias that carried out the Rwandan genocide.

On mining, the EU high representative “expressed alarm by findings in the UN panel of experts report detailing the illicit exploitation of mining areas in M23-controlled areas, in close cooperation of the Congolese authorities with FDLR militias and other armed groups”.

EU facing pressure to drop Rwanda mineral deal over DRC involvement - but fears China could step in

As part of the MOU, the EU is giving Rwanda’s government £750m to develop its infrastructure – money that comes from the global gateway, the EU’s €300bn global alternative to China’s Belt and Road initiative.

With competition from China and other countries, experts told Sky News the suspension of the deal may not be so impactful.

EU facing pressure to drop Rwanda mineral deal over DRC involvement - but fears China could step in

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“This is a classic dilemma. If the EU freezes the MOU and the arrangement falls apart, there will be no lack of less scrupulous actors with whom Rwanda can strike an alternative deal.

“And those actors are far less likely to care in the slightest about the human suffering yoked to these supply chains,” says David Soud, head of research and analysis at I.R Consilium and an expert on illicit flows.

“So, the human predicament in the DRC may actually get worse if the EU freezes the deal.

“The question is, can you use the MOU as a pressure point without breaking it? Beyond that, what other levers can the EU pull?”

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