In a post shared on X, Nduhungirehe questioned the motives of the American non-governmental organisation, indicating that refugees were returning home following the M23 rebels' capture of Goma and assurances of security.
"What a 'scandal'! How can IDPs dare return home in a secured environment? Why don't they stay in those camps forever to justify the relevance of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) and Human Rights Watch (HRW)?" Nduhungirehe wrote on Friday, criticizing the UN mission's nearly three-decade presence in the country without resolving the conflict.
HRW's latest geospatial analysis revealed that nearly all displacement camps west of Goma had been dismantled since M23 rebels took control of the provincial capital in January.
According to satellite imagery from 16 February shared by the NGO, only debris remained where thousands of tents once stood.
HRW claimed that the closure of the refugee camps violated international humanitarian law, "which prohibits the forced displacement of civilians except when required for their safety or due to imperative military reasons."
M23 has repeatedly denied allegations of human rights violations, asserting that their fight is against decades of persecution and marginalisation of Congolese Rwandophones in eastern Congo.
Rwanda has also been vocal about the plight of Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese, many of whom have been displaced due to ethnic discrimination. Over the years, more than 100,000 have sought refuge in Rwanda.
In a recent interview, Nduhungirehe contextualised the long-standing issues facing Congolese of Rwandan descent, tracing them back to colonial-era border divisions.
'Rwanda was a German colony, and in 1910, 1912, and 1911, there was a meeting in Brussels where Belgium, Germany, and the United Kingdom artificially drew the borders between the three countries. Part of the Kingdom of Rwanda was given to Congo along with its people, while another part was given to Uganda. As a result, there are people of Rwandan culture and heritage in both countriesâ€"DRC, which was then Congo, and Uganda,' he explained.
'But those in Uganda never faced issues; they were integrated into society and considered Ugandan. However, those in Congo, who have lived there since 1910, were never fully recognised as Congolese; they were always suspected of being Rwandans. This marginalisation persisted even after Congo's independence. In the 1970s, then-President of Zaire, Mobutu Sese Seko, granted them citizenship, but ten years later, in the 1980s, he revoked it, leaving them in a precarious situation,' Nduhungirehe added.
IGIHE
