{"id":34758,"date":"2024-04-04T10:36:31","date_gmt":"2024-04-04T08:36:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipisresearch.be\/?post_type=publication&p=34758"},"modified":"2025-06-10T16:52:26","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T14:52:26","slug":"the-m23-version-2-local-stakes-motivations-perceptions-and-impacts","status":"publish","type":"publication","link":"https:\/\/ipisresearch.be\/nl\/publication\/the-m23-version-2-local-stakes-motivations-perceptions-and-impacts\/","title":{"rendered":"The M23 \u201cversion 2\u201d – Local stakes, motivations, perceptions, and impacts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Since 2021, the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has once again fallen victim to the “March 23 Movement” (M23). Supposedly defeated in 2013, the M23 took up arms again in 2021, and by 2022 had rapidly seized vast territories in the south-east of North Kivu province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Download the report (FR) <\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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For further information, please contact Ken Matthysen<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Areas occupied by the CNDP in 2008, M23 in 2012 and M23 in 2023, in the province of North Kivu.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The M23 was originally created in 2012 following a mutiny within the Congolese army by former rebels that had been integrated. In 2021, the M23 relied on demands similar to those at the time of its creation in 2012. It actually accuses the Congolese government of failing to respect the 2013 Nairobi Declarations, which were signed after the end of the previous uprising. In addition, however, the M23 made other demands, such as the protection of the Tutsi community and the reform of the Congolese army.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Although the support of the Rwandan army is a crucial factor to explain the M23’s resurgence, the movement is first and foremost motivated by its own interests and objectives. This study<\/a><\/strong> sheds light on the local stakes and impacts of the M23 crisis, through the eyes of local actors in North Kivu. It is the result of interviews conducted by ASSODIP with 57 people in the province of North Kivu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Importance of both the historical and regional context<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The study explains the regional context of the current security crisis, and in particular the impact of tensions related to economic, political, security and humanitarian issues. Geopolitical competition exists between some of DRC\u2019s neighboring countries, for example for access to mineral export routes. This competition gives the Congolese people the impression that their country is being exploited by neighbors who are enriching themselves at their expense. Additionally, some neighboring countries, and Rwanda in particular, have been accused of supporting the M23. This support recalled the fear of “balkanization”, which is the widely held belief in DRC that the international community, and Rwanda in particular, are trying to divide the DRC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next, the study goes back to the historical roots of conflict in the \u201cPetit Nord\u201d<\/em> (composed of the territoires of Nyiragongo, Rutshuru, Masisi and Walikale), in order to better understand the M23’s motivations. It underlines the importance of issues dating back to the colonial period and that immediately following independence, and of tensions pitting the Rwandophone communities (Hutus, and especially Tutsis) against the province’s other ethnic groups. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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