R05: * EU has to take their responsabilities about DRC's conflict !

Prelude

The conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) cannot be reduced
to isolated events or simplified narratives. Rather, it is the product of deeply
rooted structural factors, including colonial legacies, regional power
struggles, and the global demand for natural resources. Our aim is to provide a
concise yet essential historical and contextual background. This overview
underscores the continuity between past and present forms. It also situates the
role of the EU, within a broader framework of responsibility, accountability,
and policy coherence.

History

Europe

The colonization of the Congo was a broad European project that extended well
beyond the actions of Belgium, primarily coordinated through the Berlin
Conference of 1884. Organized by German Chancellor, this conference invited
several European powers, including France, the United Kingdom, and the
Netherlands, to establish rules for the division of the continent.

Leopold II, king of Belgium, granted large tracts of territory as concessions to
private companies which in return surrendered a portion of their profits. These
companies were allowed to levy taxes in kind, organize forced labor, and deploy
their own armed forces to enforce rubber quotas. As a result, large parts of the
country were transformed into giant rubber plantations, where the population had
to harvest rubber only to subsequently hand it over far below the world market
price. The labor regime was characterized by extreme coercion, violence, and
terror, especially in the rubber zones. Historical and demographic estimates
vary, but many studies speak about millions of deaths as a result of murders,
hunger, overwork, disease, and declining birth rates during Leopold's reign.

Under heavy international pressure and growing Belgian political resistance, the
Belgian state took the Congo Free State in 1908 over and transformed it into the
Belgian Congo. At this time, the economic core shifted from rubber and ivory to
mining: copper, cobalt, uranium, gold, and diamonds from regions such as Katanga
and Kasaï became the focus. Profits flowed primarily to Belgian shareholders and
holdings, while Congolese workers received low wages and remained subject to
colonial control. A large part of the profits was used to urban projects in
Belgium to finance, primarily in Brussels and the surrounding area.

In Antwerp, during the 1885 and 1894 world exhibitions, “Congolese villages”
displayed over a hundred Congolese people in degrading conditions. Used as
propaganda by Leopold II, these exhibitions aimed to legitimize colonialism by
reinforcing racist hierarchies and showing the so-called “civilizing work”,
similar to the “human zoos” seen across Europe.

Others European nations also exhibited a form of colonial complicity by
participating in the administration and exploration of the territory. The
operational and military infrastructure of the Congo also relied heavily on an
European workforce. The Force Publique, the colony's paramilitary force
responsible for enforcing rubber quotas through brutal means, recruited many of
its officers from Europeans nations.

In a more modern context, European involvement has continued through the
European Union, which has deployed military forces from 19 member states,
including France and the United Kingdom, to oversee democratic processes. The
independence of Congo on June 30, 1960, was barely prepared and created a power
vacuum that ultimately led to the Congo Crisis and the assassination of Patrice
Lumumba with involvement of the Belgian state and the CIA. Following Lumumba’s
assassination and the gradual suppression of alternative governments, Mobutu
finally came to power in 1965. He installed a long-lasting dictatorship (Zaire)
that relied on patronage, repression, and close ties with Western states and
companies in exchange for access to raw materials.

Rwanda, related to Congo

Colonial intervention, by Germany and by Belgium, profoundly disrupted the order
in Rwanda. The borders, drawn without taking into account local realities, froze
spaces that were previously interconnected, and thus became subject to new
tensions. Influenced by anthropometry, a pseudoscience aimed at classifying and
hierarchizing “races,” the colonial administration imposed a racialized reading
of society. The Tutsis were then defined as coming from a people of herders of
so-called “Hamitic” origin, supposedly superior to the Hutus and the Twas. This
racialization of Rwandan society has major consequences o the genocide of the
Tutsis in 1994 and up to today.

At the end of the 1950s, in a context of rising independence demands and under
pressure from the United Nations, Belgium profoundly modified its policy in
Rwanda. Whereas it had until then relied on Tutsi elites, it now chose to
support the Hutu majority, considered more numerous and more docile. After
independence, in 1962, Belgium continued to support Rwandan authorities
dominated by the Hutus until the genocide, which lasted from April to July 1994
made at least 800,000 victims.

After the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, hundreds of thousands of Hutu refugees,
including genocidaires, fled into Kivu which was already marked by instability
since the colonial rule created artificial borders and left identity tensions in
eastern Congo, where Rwandophone communities have long lived. Since then,
eastern DRC has become a space of regional rivalry, marked by the presence of
armed groups.

Current situation

After the Rwandan genocide, a rebel group composed mostly of ethnic Tutsis
emerged called M23. Rwanda's involvement is the most contentious element of the
current conflict. Rwanda was accused of providing troops, weapons, and direct
military support to M23, accusations that Rwanda denies. Rwanda's stated concern
is the presence of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a
Hutu military force with ties to the 1994 genocide, which operates in eastern
DRC and has at times cooperated with the Congolese army.

Rwanda and Uganda have intervened repeatedly, sometimes with genuine security
concerns, with economic motives, turning the eastern DRC into a place for proxy
warfare, where countries indirectly confront each other through military and
economic support of different actors. Currently, 8.2 million people are
displaced, projected to reach 9 million by end-2026, including 5.8 million
internally displaced. Nearly 15 million people are in need of humanitarian
assistance. Disease outbreaks, food insecurity, and sexual violence (use as a
weapon of war) are extremely present.

EU relationships

The European Union’s raw materials partnerships

The European Union’s raw materials diplomacy is a central pillar of its
industrial strategy, aimed at securing access to mineral reserves that are
essential for European industry. To achieve this, the EU establishes strategic
partnerships and policy dialogues. At the same time, the EU implemented the
Conflict Minerals Regulation requiring EU companies to ensure their imports come
from responsible sources only. However, these partnerships have encountered
significant ethical and geopolitical problems, most notably regarding the EU-
Rwanda strategic partnership, intended to develop "sustainable value chains",
signed in February 2024. Reports from the United Nations and other international
organizations suggest that minerals exported from Rwanda are often illicitly
smuggled from the DRC, which is inextricably linked to violent activities.

Budgetary and military support to Rwanda

The EU provides military and budgetary assistance to Rwanda primarily through
the European Peace Facility. The EU justifies this support as a commitment to
"African solutions for African problems" and as a means to protect regional
interests. However, this military support is highly controversial due to the
lack of traceability of funds.

Call to action

We, as FYEG, call upon the EU, its member states, and the international
community to:

We call on the European Green Party for a common position based upon the above
calls, to ensure a coherent, unified and effective response.

Bibliography

European Parliament, Motion for a Resolution on the escalation of violence in
the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (RC-B10-0102/2025), RC-10-2025-
0102_EN, 10 February 2025. Available at:
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/RC-10-2025-0102_EN.html

Greens/EFA (2024). EU’s silence on Congo-Rwanda conflict becoming deafening.
Available at:https://www.greens-efa.eu/en/article/press/eus-silence-on-congo-
rwanda-conflict-becoming-deafening

Human Rights Watch (2025). Enough red flags have been ignored: EU must
reconsider Rwanda relations. Available at:
https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/03/28/enough-red-flags-have-been-ignored-eu-must-
reconsider-rwanda-relations