In the aftermath of the First World War, Belgium, then Democratic Republic of the Congo’s colonial power, administratively annexed Rwanda and Burundi—hitherto German colonies—to Belgian Congo. Belgian colonial administrators thus governed the three territorial units as a single colonial entity known as Le Congo Belge et le Ruanda-Urundi.
While migrations (both voluntary and involuntary) of Rwanda-originating peoples no doubt precede the advent of the colonial state, the political mélange orchestrated by Belgian colonial rulers would subsequently complicate distinctions among Kinyarwanda-speaking peoples in eastern DRC, particularly in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
How should we understand the unfolding violence involving Kinyarwanda-speaking groups in today’s eastern DRC? Which frame of analysis should we deploy? Is it a case of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) or Duty to Defend (D2D)? This seminar discussion seeks to decipher established discourses on citizenship in Africa's Great Lakes region in the hope to think anew the nation-state question in contemporary Africa."
ZOOM Meeting ID: 884 6495 9927
Passcode: 074255