Those in Rwanda's latest "graduating class" from an insurgent re-education and reintegration center have now earned their freedom.
737 former Rwandan anti-government combatants, including 30 senior officers, on Thursday joined the list of over 12,000 demobilized former insurgents after being discharged from the Mutobo facility following two years of civic education and vocational training.
According to the UN Peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO, the Rwandan initiative is a result of an effort to address more than 100 rebel groups that are operating in the forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The UN mission has pushed regional leaders to work together in attempts of neutralizing insurgents.
Colonel Joseph Gatabaz, a Rwandan security official said the former combatants were camped in the eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo where they spent over two decades fighting to seize Rwanda. He said the insurgents were eventually captured by Congolese military officials under a joint military operation between the DRC and the East African Community.
Officials say the joint operation is mandated to weaken what experts have labelled “negative forces” in DRC’s eastern regions.
FILE- Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan during a meeting with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, April 15, 2022
Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu applauded the works of the joint military operation and said this will result in safer East African borders and promote trade within the region.
“We all know the importance of DRC joining our community,” said Tanzania’s leader, adding, “All partner states have long and close cooperation by either bordering or having trade relations which will enhance the prosperity of our people and the region.”