{"id":53888,"date":"2025-04-15T15:46:47","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T15:46:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/no-humanitarian-crisis-in-goma-veteran-german-diplomat-says-after-visit-to-drc\/"},"modified":"2025-04-15T14:58:25","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T14:58:25","slug":"no-humanitarian-crisis-in-goma-veteran-german-diplomat-says-after-visit-to-drc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/no-humanitarian-crisis-in-goma-veteran-german-diplomat-says-after-visit-to-drc\/","title":{"rendered":"“No humanitarian crisis in Goma” – veteran German diplomat says after visit to DRC"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI drove through most parts of the city and could not see any signs of a humanitarian crisis,\u201d Fahrenholtz revealed in a post on X on Tuesday, April 15, 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe streets are bustling with people and they seem very relaxed and feeling safe. The shops are full with foodstuff, imported goods, etc. The University reopened, electricity and water are supplied by the municipality 24 hours per day. There is even street lighting during the night.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

No humanitarian crisis in Goma. I drove through most parts of the city and could not see any signs of a humanitarian crisis. The streets are bustling with people and they seem very relaxed and feeling safe. The shops are full with foodstuff, imported goods etc. The University\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/xAbuGTj3kT<\/a><\/p>\n

— Peter Fahrenholtz, Ambassador rtd (@peterfahren) April 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Fahrenholtz, who previously served as Germany\u2019s ambassador to Rwanda and Bangladesh, praised the efforts to restore order in Goma, noting that law enforcement appeared effective and visible improvements in public services were evident.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlmost no garbage to be seen in the streets. Police officers are doing their job, crime and corruption seem to be clearly less. Rule of law is beginning to be established,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

During his visit, Fahrenholtz observed that the border crossing between Goma and Gisenyi, Rwanda, is fully operational, with UN World Food Programme trucks and NGO vehicles crossing smoothly to address humanitarian needs that may still exist in districts outside the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw women walking across into Goma at 9 p.m.,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

In his visit, Fahrenholtz met with the Governor of North Kivu, Manzi Willy, who spoke of the ongoing genocidal acts targeting the Tutsi population in eastern DRC\u2014atrocities also flagged by the UN Special Advisor on Genocide Prevention. <\/p>\n

The governor stressed that the M23 movement aims to end these acts, protect civilians\u2019 human rights, and work toward peace and stability in the region.<\/p>\n

Describing M23 as an \u201cinclusive and diverse Congolese movement\u201d with members from various ethnic backgrounds, including Hutu, Fahrenholtz echoed concerns about the persecution and displacement of Tutsi communities over decades.<\/p>\n

The former ambassador has previously criticized international responses to the conflict, particularly those of the European Union. He challenged comments made by EU High Representative Kaja Kallas, who in March accused Rwanda of backing the M23 rebellion. Rwanda has repeatedly denied involvement in the conflict, insisting that its primary concern is the continued presence in the DRC of the FDLR militia, which is linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre M23 not DR Congo citizens? Were there not European mercenaries fighting against them in DR Congo? Who will protect ethnic minorities in eastern DR Congo?\u201d Fahrenholtz questioned.<\/p>\n

He further criticized the Congolese government\u2019s failure to resolve the root causes of the rebellion, including ethnic divisionism and genocidal ideology.<\/p>\n

Fahrenholtz\u2019s remarks add a diplomatic voice to the growing scrutiny of the conflict in eastern Congo since the takeover of Goma by the rebels in January, urging the international community to reevaluate its stance and prioritize protection of minority communities.<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Veteran German diplomat Peter Fahrenholtz has dismissed claims of a humanitarian crisis in Goma following a recent visit to the eastern Congolese city, describing the situation as stable and improving under the control of the AFC\/M23 rebels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000085772,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[75],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-53888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics-48","tag-homenews","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000085772,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/74958.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/74958.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/74958.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/74958.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/74958.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/74958.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000085772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53888"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=53888"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=53888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}