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In 2023 I shared the following declassified cable that I collected from the U.S. National Archives detailing the complex issues that fuel the Banyarwanda crisis in eastern Congo. In addition to earlier migrations from Rwanda, the Belgians settled tens of thousands of Rwandans causing tensions and violent conflict with the Nianga and Hunde landowners. For instance, in 1934, the Belgians settled 30,000 Rwandans in one area of Kivu. In some areas the settler population became the majority. Citizenship is only one issue. Land ownership is even a bigger issue. Successive waves of migration and refugees (1959, 1970’s, 1990’s, etc.) from Rwanda added more to a complex situation. Some Banyarwanda factions taking up arms against the state in the late 1990’s to assert citizenship further exacerbates the crisis. Rwanda seizing up the issue for its own geopolitical objectives adds fuel to the fire. I am sharing that cable again. André Navez, the American consul and author of this cable who traveled to the area, died in 2023. 🧵