Soldiers from the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and police from the country have begun to be sent to Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, after they had surrendered to M23 group
In the month of January of this year, 2025, towards its end, these soldiers and police had taken refuge in United Nations peacekeeping bases in Goma. This was after they were defeated by M23.
As explained, when M23 took the city of Goma, approximately 3,000 soldiers from the Kinshasa government decided to seek refuge at Monusco.
This decision was made just a few hours after M23 set a 48-hour ultimatum for the troops in Goma to lay down their arms.
These troops, who were based in the city of Goma, have now started to be sent to the city of Kinshasa, with the involvement of the international Red Cross committee accompanying the vehicles transporting these soldiers and police.
This operation began on Wednesday, April 30, 2025.
The head of the Red Cross in Congo, Francois Mereillon, announced that they agreed to provide assistance in repatriating those soldiers after being approached by various entities including the Congolese Ministry of Defense, Monusco, and M23, who requested them to act as “a neutral mediator.”
This organization stated that it did not impose any conditions after receiving that request, but rather agreed to contribute to assisting in that operation.
They added that before starting the repatriation of those soldiers, the Congolese Ministry of Defense, Monusco, and M23 agreed to “ensure the safety of those soldiers and police officers in the vehicles, and to strive for the smooth conduct of that operation.”
These soldiers began to be sent to Kinshasa shortly after the SADC forces that were stationed in the city of Goma, which had also been sheltering these RDC soldiers, started repatriating them to their countries through Rwandan territory.
These soldiers from both sides were summoned by the Kinshasa government to defend it, but they were defeated.
