SUMMARY
The non-state conflict between M23 and VDP was mainly fought in the Nord Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire). The conflict is primarily a proxy war. In 2021 the conflict between the Government of DR Congo and M23 recurred and in 2022 this conflict escalated with M23 starting to control territory. In response to the escalation, the government negotiated support from armed groups including APCLS, CMC and NDC-R. These groups had earlier been fighting both the government and one-another but in response to the conflict with M23 they negotiated a cease-fire and formed ARP later renamed VDP. This alliance had the sole aim of fighting M23 and Rwanda. VDP often fought together with the government of DR Congo, but during periods of ceasefire between DR Congo and Rwanda, VDP continued to be the sole group defending towns and villages in Nord Kivu against the M23 territorial expansion.
The non-state conflict between M23 and VDP is also rooted in local ethnic enmities in Nord Kivu. The Nord Kivu province is situated in the eastern parts of the country bordering Rwanda and Uganda. Much of the land in the Nord Kivu province is fertile and it is more densely populated than other parts of the country. A broad range of different communities: Hunde, Nande, Nyanga, Tembo, Kano, Twa, Pere, Hutu, and Tutsi, with the latter two collectively referred to as Banyarwanda have inhabited the province for centuries. Before colonization, these communities were governed differently in different chiefdoms. Under the colonial administration, these chieftaincies were absorbed by the new power. In some cases, chieftaincies were re-drawn into sectors sometimes importing new chiefs. The Belgians also made a distinction between the indigenous/autochthonous tribes of the area, who were entitled to holding land, and the foreigners, oftentimes being those of Rwandan descent (Hutu and Tutsi), who were not entitled to holding land. At the same time, all land belonged to the colonial power and they could expropriate customary land to lease or sell it to plantation-owners.
During the colonial rule, the plantation-owners needed labor on their farms. Labor workers were recruited in neighboring Rwanda to meet this demand. This new wave of immigration changed the ethnic balance in some areas of the Nord Kivu province. It is believed that 150 000 and 300 000 Hutu and Tutsi immigrants moved to Nord Kivu during the colonial period. After independence, these shifts have been one of the roots of conflicts in the area. While the indigenous communities have kept the customary power and the right over land, the Hutu and Tutsi have been more numerous and therefore a threat in a democratic DR Congo. Different laws regulating citizenship have granted or ripped the Hutu and Tutsi communities of their rights aggravating the situation. Under the Mobutu Zairianisation process, the big plantations were nationalized and then granted to close allies of president Mobutu. Hutu and Tutsi elite managed to by land during this period and consequently managed to gain economic power.
In this setting, we have seen the birth of different armed rebellions in DR Congo. The conflict between M23 and VDP is an offspring to these rebellions. The conflict can also be viewed in connection to previous non-state conflicts and tension in North Kivu for example violence between Hutu – Hunde and Nyanga in 1993 and Hutu-Tutsi violence in 1995, as well as in connection to the DR Congo (Zaire): Government conflict. M23 can trace their origins to the CNDP and RCD and similarly VDP can partly trace their origin to PARECO and Mayi Mayi militias which have previously been engaged in non-state conflict in eastern DR Congo.
The conflict between M23 and VDP is also connected to the Rwanda: Government conflict. M23 drew its main support from, and claimed to fight for the interests of, the Tutsi population of the two Kivu provinces. The group was supported by Rwanda, who has a Tutsi-led government. Rwanda used M23 as a means to retain influence in the region. M23 partly motivated the insurgency by claiming that the Tutsi population was threatened by other armed groups, including the Rwandan Hutu rebel group FDLR-FOCA, and by the government's policy. Meanwhile, VDP drew on some groups and movements whose main conflict issue was against Rwanda’s interference in the Kivus. Their members were multi-ethnic but the Hutu was one of the communities that had a prominent position in the alliance and therefore the conflict became mixed up with a conflict between Hutu and Tutsi that spanned the Central African region.
Both groups used propaganda spurring ethnic hatred to mobilize support. The M23 often played on the fear of genocide among the Tutsi population, and portrayed all non-Tutsi as potential FDLR-FOCA members. VDP, on the other hand, described M23 as a foreign movement with no interest in peace in the DR. Congo and with a final aim of Balkanizing, meaning dividing up, the country. Locally the conflict issues were about land and the control over local power. Both sides tell a story about being marginalized. Both groups were also connected to local elites and business interests as well as the control over resources have also spurred the conflict. The groups have attacked civilians perceived to be part of the other side in the conflict.
The non-state conflict between M23 and VDP is first included in UCDP data in 2022. In November that year, more than 25 people were killed in clashes between the two groups as M23 advanced on the towns Kitshanga, Kibirizi and Nyamilima, Nord Kivu province, DR Congo. The conflict ended when M23 formed the ARC alliance. To continue to follow the violence read the conflict description AFC – VDP.
