M23 armed group in DR Congo accused of forcibly transferring civilians to Rwanda

Forced transfers, mass killings, and a spiraling crisis in eastern Congo

An armed group pushing civilians across an international border at gunpoint is not a grey area in wartime. It is outlawed. Human Rights Watch (HRW) says the M23 armed group, which controls swathes of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, has forcibly deported more than 1,500 people into Rwanda, in what the group calls clear violations of the 1949 Geneva Conventions.

HRW reports that after seizing ground early this year, M23 dismantled most displacement camps around Goma, North Kivu’s capital, and ordered several hundred thousand people to leave. In May, fighters rounded up displaced families and bussed many into Goma, where a portion were screened and then moved across the Petite Barrière and Grande Barrière border gates into Rwanda. According to HRW, some of these transfers happened under the eye of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), which later told the watchdog that screening was “done under pressure” and refugees had no real choice.

“The forcible transfer of civilians to Rwanda, whether Congolese citizens or Rwandan refugees, is a war crime under the Geneva Conventions,” said Clémentine de Montjoye, HRW’s senior Great Lakes researcher. The watchdog argues that Rwanda’s sway over M23 in eastern Congo makes Kigali ultimately responsible for abuses carried out by the group.

Rwanda’s military, logistics, and intelligence support were decisive in early 2025, when M23 pushed back Congolese government forces and their allies to seize Goma and Bukavu, the region’s two largest cities. UN and Congolese government estimates cited by HRW put the death toll from the battle for Goma between roughly 900 and 2,000. The fall of both cities reshaped the front lines and gave M23 control over key roads, crossings, and supply routes.

Since June 2023, the UN has described a “widespread and systematic campaign of intimidation and repression” against civilians living under M23 rule. Residents have been attacked for being near patrol routes, trying to flee, or showing any sign of defiance, HRW says. The pattern includes summary killings, beatings, and detentions—acts that violate the Geneva rules banning murder, mutilation, cruel and degrading treatment, and torture of noncombatants.

M23 frames many operations as targeting the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a mostly Rwandan Hutu armed group that includes elements tied to the 1994 genocide. But HRW’s research indicates that civilians—many of them Hutu farmers in Rutshuru territory—have borne the brunt of recent operations. The blurred lines between anti-FDLR actions and collective punishment of communities perceived as hostile have deepened ethnic fear and fueled retaliatory violence.

In July 2025 alone, HRW says M23 fighters carried out mass executions of more than 140 civilians in at least 14 villages and farming areas near Virunga National Park. Credible local accounts suggest the death toll in Rutshuru over recent months may exceed 300. These are among the worst atrocities attributed to M23 since the group resurfaced in late 2021.

What happened to those pushed into Rwanda is still unclear. Families in Goma and nearby towns say they have lost contact with relatives who were placed on trucks and “processed” at the border before vanishing from view. Kigali, M23, and UNHCR have not provided public details on the legal status, location, or conditions of those transferred.

UNHCR’s involvement has drawn scrutiny. The agency has a mandate to protect refugees and prevent refoulement—sending people back to danger. HRW’s account that screenings happened “under pressure” points to a chaotic environment, where armed groups dictate terms and humanitarian workers are forced into impossible choices. Aid agencies say the region’s broader displacement crisis makes everything harder. Nationwide, more than seven million people are displaced, with North Kivu among the hardest hit. When camps around Goma were dismantled, thousands scattered into informal sites without clean water, sanitation, or shelter—fertile ground for cholera and other outbreaks.

Rwanda has long rejected claims it commands M23, even as UN experts have repeatedly documented Rwandan backing since the group’s re-emergence. In this latest round of allegations, Kigali and M23 have not responded to detailed questions about the transfers. Congolese officials say Rwanda is using M23 to carve out a buffer zone and control profitable cross-border trade and mining routes—claims Rwanda denies.

The security picture is grim. The Congolese army (FARDC) is stretched thin across multiple fronts. Regional missions have rotated in and out: the East African force left months earlier, and newer deployments have struggled to blunt M23 advances. Local defense groups have sprung up in response, but they lack coordination and have added to abuses. Markets across North Kivu open and close with the front lines, and aid convoys wait for guarantees that often fall apart by nightfall.

At stake is more than territory. Forced transfers across an international border threaten a decades-old norm designed to shield civilians from the whims of occupying powers. Once that line is crossed, abuses tend to multiply—detention without charge, forced labor, disappearances—because the same logic that moves people like cargo also strips them of rights.

What international law says and why it matters

International humanitarian law draws a bright line on moving civilians during war. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 49, an occupying power cannot deport or forcibly transfer the population of occupied territory, either within that territory or across borders. The test is whether movement is voluntary and free of coercion. War does not erase this duty.

• Forced transfer: Moving civilians against their will within national borders is banned.
• Deportation: Moving civilians from occupied territory into another country is banned.
• No excuses: Motives—security sweeps, anti-insurgent operations, “screening”—do not legalize coercive transfers.
• Responsibility: If a state directs, supports, or effectively controls an armed group that commits these acts, that state can bear responsibility under international law.

HRW argues that Rwanda’s military and logistical backing gave M23 the means to seize major cities and carry out the transfers. If proven, that would widen accountability beyond the fighters who loaded the trucks. It could also reshape debates at the UN Security Council, where calls for sanctions, arms embargo enforcement, and an independent investigations mechanism are already on the table.

For Congolese families, those debates feel far away. The collapse of formal camps around Goma scattered people into churchyards, school compounds, and roadside encampments. Mothers barter blankets for cassava flour. Health workers say vaccine supply is erratic and cases of acute malnutrition are rising. The rainy season turns footpaths into mud rivers, making it even harder for aid groups to reach hillside settlements.

The economics are unforgiving. Control of the Goma–Gisenyi and Bukavu–Cyangugu crossings opens and closes valves on trade and taxes. That revenue, plus access to mineral routes in North Kivu and Ituri, helps armed actors pay fighters and buy weapons. It also encourages a political strategy that treats civilians as leverage. Forced transfers are part of that playbook: move people, remake the map, and bargain from a stronger position.

Diplomats say there is still space for pressure. Regional leaders have pushed for a ceasefire tied to a timeline for withdrawals. Donors are weighing targeted measures against commanders implicated in atrocities, while encouraging talks that include community leaders, not just men with guns. But none of that will matter if monitors cannot enter areas where transfers and killings allegedly took place, if the whereabouts of deported civilians remain hidden, and if survivors are too scared to testify.

Key allegations in HRW’s latest findings include:

• Over 1,500 people forcibly deported from occupied areas of eastern DR Congo into Rwanda.
• Dismantling of camps around Goma and coerced movement of “previously displaced” populations.
• UNHCR screening “under pressure,” with refugees lacking a genuine choice.
• Summary executions of at least 140 civilians in July 2025 near Virunga National Park; overall killings in Rutshuru since July possibly exceeding 300.
• Rwanda’s support deemed “critical” to M23’s capture of Goma and Bukavu, with high civilian casualties reported during the Goma offensive.

The unanswered questions are stark. Where are the people moved into Rwanda? Are they being held, resettled, or quietly pushed onward? Can families in North Kivu contact them? Without access and credible information, rumors fill the void, and fear does the rest. HRW’s call is blunt: stop the transfers, account for the missing, and allow independent investigators into areas under M23 control.