Crisis Chronology

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RWANDA

01/17/2024

UK Parliament passes a bill that would allow deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda to have their asylum claims heard and for resettlement.

01/12/2024

Burundi closes border with Rwanda, accusing the Rwanda government of supporting the Red Tabara militant group against the Burundi government. Red Tabara has been battling Burundi’s government from bases in the eastern DRC since 2015.

12/12/2023

UK Parliament passes Sunak’s law allowing Rwanda deportations.

12/05/2023

Rwanda and UK sign new treaty to allow the UK to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.

09/20/2023

Kagame announces that he will run for a fourth term. The election is scheduled for 8/24. Constitutional amendments he supported will allow him to be president until 2034. He is now 65.

05/23/2023

DRC files complaint with the International Criminal Court against Rwanda (the Rwanda Defense Force) and the M23 rebels. Rwanda denies any involvement.

01/25/2023

Rwanda fires personal anti-aircraft missile at DRC fighter jet, claiming that it violated Rwandan airspace. DRC denies the violation and calls the firing “an act of war.”

12/19/2022

UK High Court rules that deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda is legal.

10/30/2022

M23 rebels capture towns in in North Kivu. The DRC expels the Rwandan ambassador, accusing the country of supporting the rebels.

10/22/2022

Burundi declares that all the border with Rwanda is open. Burundi maintains that it wants coup plotters returned.

06/19/2022

DRC applauds Kenya’s proposal for a regional force to be deployed to fight the M23 group in the eastern DRC but insists that no Rwandan troops be included.

06/17/2022

A Congolese soldier crosses the border with Rwanda and is shot dead. The DRC closes its border with Rwanda.

06/15/2022

First flight of deportees to Rwanda is cancelled after the European Court of Human Rights rules that all of those aboard cannot be deported until their asylum applications have been reviewed.

05/31/2022

AU mediator and Angola President João Lourenço meets with DRC President Tshisekedi to discuss rising tensions between DRC and Rwanda due to fighting in the DRC by the M23 rebel movement, which the DRC believes is supported covertly by Rwanda. Rwanda says that the DRC has allowed anti-Rwanda rebels to settle in its northeast. Tshisekedi agrees to release two Rwandan military recently seized. Afterwards, Lourenço meets virtually with Rwanda President Paul Kagame.

04/14/2022

Rwanda agrees to accept asylum seekers who reach the UK, which will pay Rwanda £120M for education, training, etc. Details are sparse, but it seems that the asylum seekers, regardless of country of origin, will be flown to Rwanda and supported there for a period of some years if they stay. Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa.

04/14/2022

Rwanda agrees to accept asylum seekers who reach the UK. Details are sparse, but it seems that the asylum seekers, regardless of country of origin, will be flown to Rwanda and supported there for a period of some years if they stay. Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa.

01/31/2022

Rwanda and Uganda reopen borders closed as a result of accusations of Rwandan espionage in Uganda and Ugandan interference in Rwandan politics. Uganda removed its military intelligence chief, a major demand of Rwanda.

06/01/2020

Rwanda confirm its first death from COVID-19 and will reconsider opening up. It has about 375 cases.

05/05/2020

Government accuses Rwandan Hutu rebel group Allied Democratic Forces (FLDR) of killing of 12 rangers at the end of April in the Virunga National park. They deny it, saying that Rwandan government forces killed them.

05/05/2020

Rwanda begins easing of COVID-19 restrictions. There are about 225 cases and no deaths.

03/22/2020

Rwanda imposes stay-at-home order due to COVID-19 pandemic.

01/10/2020

As part of efforts to defuse tension, Uganda releases nine Rwandan nationals it had seized, accusing them of being spies.

09/16/2019

Peace negotiations between Ruanda and Uganda begin.

08/28/2019

Agreement with Uganda

Rwanda and Uganda sign a Memorandum of Understanding to resolve tensions between them.

06/10/2019

Rwanda reopens border with Uganda.

03/05/2019

Rwanda charges that Uganda has sabotaged trade with its southern neighbor, mistreated Rwandans in Uganda and supported rebel groups opposed to President Paul Kagame’s government. Uganda denies all the charges.

02/27/2019

Rwanda unilaterally closes crucial point of entry on the border with Uganda, saying that it needed to repair the road. However, the road is crucial to trade between the two countries. Uganda protests.

09/03/2018

Parliamentary elections in Rwanda. The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and its allies wins 40 of the 53 elected seats. Twenty-seven other seats are elected indirectly by local and national councils. The Social Democratic Party loses of its seven seats, the Liberal Party loses one of its five seats, and the Democratic Green Party and the Social Party Imberakuri gain two seats, their first representatives in parliament.