EU Parliament requires the end of the Mineral Pact in Rwanda over DRC conflict links

On February 13, the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to suspend a cooperation agreement with Rwanda on a trio of critical minerals for the transition of clean energy, citing their links with continuous violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The so-called 3T-Staraniu, Tungsten, Tantal-Sunt minerals are extracted in large volumes in the eastern provinces of the North and South Kivu. Since the end of January 2025, a rebellious group known as M23, which is believed to have been supported by Rwanda, has confiscated key parts of the region, including the two provincial capitals, Goma and Bukavu, mineral trade are said feed violenceAccording to a December 2024 Report by a group of UN experts.

“The Parliament regrets the failure of the European Union to take appropriate measures to address the Rwanda crisis and pressure to conclude its support for M23,” the European Parliament said in a statement issued after his vote on February 13th. Asked the Commission and the EU Council “to suspend immediately The EU’s understanding memorandum on the values ​​of durable raw materials with RwandaUntil the country ceases all the interference in the RDC, including the export of mining minerals from the M23 controlled areas. “

French MEP Thierry Mariani, who spoke about a large number of persistent instability in the RDC – largely led by the ilicitated exploitation of natural and responsible resources for at least for at least for 6 million deaths per nearly 30 – The decision of the EU Parliament requires concrete actions from the EU.

“It’s just a resolution! Now it has to be followed by concrete actions from the European Commission … and this is not easy ”, Mariani said the media.

According to Emmanuel filling, the head of the Afort NGO, based on DRC, the vote of the EU Parliament could be a significant opportunity for the RDC. He said that the country should apply for EU commitments and countries such as China, Japan and Qatar to discourage the use of violence as a means of accessing minerals.

Jean-Claude Okende, an activist of Congolese civil society who pleads for transparency in the mining industry, said that, without such commitments, these beneficiaries and rwanda-absorbed that they have exported minerals from the east of RDC-will continued to benefit from minerals related to conflicts that devastated their country. “China must start the supply responsibly. We must also go further (as in the EU) with China. The RDC has to ask what measures will take China, ”Okede said.

The report of the UN Expert Group states that, in 2024, “the commercial centers controlled by the AFC-M23 coalition in Rubaya and Mushaki, as well as mineral transport routes from Rabaya to Rwanda, where Rabaya minerals were mixed with Rwandan production.”

Rubaya is the largest 3T mineral reserve in the great lakes in Africa. “This is the most significant contamination of the” 3T “mineral supply chains … registered in the region of the big lakes in the last decade,” the report shows.

Rwanda continued to refuse any involvement in illicit mineral trade. Rwanda president Paul Kagame, who accuses RDC of collaborating with groups threatening Rwanda Security, SAPS Jeune Afrique magazine This, which is facing a choice between an existential threat and the risk of sanctions, he will “target his weapons to existential threat as if the other did not exist.”

Combating corruption and poverty

Seen as a symbolic victory for the RDC, the vote of the deputies also serves as a criticism of the mining and the environment in the country. One of the largest countries on Earth, RDC covers 2.3 million square kilometers (905,000 square miles) and houses 93 million people, of which almost three out of four Lives with less than $ 2.15 per day.

Armed groups thrive in this context of persistent rural poverty, where poor farmers are easily recruited, while natural resources continue to offer a constant source of financing for these groups. Said Bintou Keita, the head of the UN mission, said M23 wins $ 300,000 per month from 3T minerals in Rabaya.

In order to break the cycle of violence around mining places, the filling called for a better governance of natural resources and a stronger state authority on national territory. This means “ensuring that the exploitation of the natural resources of the RDC serves the interests of the population. We need to work to improve social conditions, because, too often, poverty persists in the areas where resources are extracted. Significant investments in these regions are essential to break the conflict cycle, ”he said.

DRC is a member of the transparency initiative of the extractive industry (EITI), which requires the disclosure of payments received by public authorities and those made to mining operators. But his mining sector remains largely opaque.

Against this background, the minister of Mine of the RDC issued an order on February 12, classifying the mining sites in the provinces of North and South as “red” areas for a renewable period of six months. This designation applies to “all mining sites” on the territory of Masis (Rabaya sector) and Kalehe territory (Nyamibwe sector). Classification requires stricter controls on minerals in these areas as part of the 3T mineral certification process.

Okende said this is a crucial step in improving government. “The RDC must optimize this classification by implementing the internal measures to apply their decision and to ensure that all the mining sites currently controlled by rebels are properly regulated. We need concrete actions to prove to the international community that the RDC is a responsible player, ”he said.

Banner image: Miners waiting for an interview on a South Kivu mining site in 2012. Image by Sasha Lezhnev/Sufficient project through Flickr (Cc by-nc-tnd 2.0)

A version of this story was published for the first time Here in French on February 20, 2025.

Key factors that feed conflict in eastern RDC

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