Former FDLR Fighters Return Home to Rwanda: From Deep Jungle to a Fresh Start at Mutobo

Musanze, Rwanda – Jean Claude Hategekimana once feared that returning to Rwanda could cost him his life. But after years with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), he left the armed group and came home. At Rwanda's Mutobo Demobilisation and Reintegration Centre, he is now preparing for civilian life.

Born in 1996 in Rutsiro district in western Rwanda, Hategekimana crossed into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with his parents and grew up in territory controlled by the FDLR. He joined the group in 2018, went through military training and at one point held the rank of captain.

"I came to the Mutobo centre after taking part in fighting to defend Goma. After the defeat, I fled to Masisi. When I realised I was fighting for nothing, I decided to return to Rwanda. I came back on 24 February," he said.

According to Hategekimana, FDLR members were taught that anyone who returned to Rwanda would be killed.

"When I set foot back in Rwanda, I realised the FDLR had deceived us. For me, coming home had felt like stepping into a suicide mission," he said.

His experience reflects the reintegration challenges facing former fighters whose beliefs and fears were shaped by years of life inside an armed group.

Rebuilding a civilian life

Francis Musoni, secretary-general of Rwanda's Demobilisation and Reintegration Commission, said the Mutobo centre in Musanze district, Northern Province, was established in 2001 to receive FDLR members and other Rwandan armed groups returning from the DRC.

The FDLR emerged after the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. After the genocide, members of the former Rwandan armed forces and militia groups fled into what was then Zaire, now the DRC. The Rwandan government accuses the FDLR of carrying out attacks against Rwanda and contributing to cross-border instability.

At Mutobo, the rehabilitation programme includes medical care, psychosocial support, civic education and help reconnecting with family. According to Musoni, returnees can also contact relatives and friends by telephone.

"We help them build self-confidence, trust and empowerment so they can return to their communities and, together with their families, contribute to the country's development," he said.

The centre also allows visitors and journalists to meet returnees. Musoni said those undergoing rehabilitation can make short visits to their communities to strengthen their confidence in coming home.

"They can go to their communities during the rehabilitation period. They are given written permission for one or two weeks, and we even help with transport," he said.

Different journeys home

For the former commanders journalists met at Mutobo, the decision to leave the FDLR came from family ties, disillusionment and fears for their own safety.

Major General Anastase Munyaneza served in the former Rwandan armed forces in Kicukiro district, Kigali, during the 1994 genocide. He said he left Rwanda after the genocide, later joined the FDLR and at one point commanded the South Kivu area.

Although he once accepted the group's ideology, Munyaneza kept in touch with family in Rwanda. News of their lives made him question his own situation.

"I was the only one who fled to the DRC. I regularly received news about them. I knew they were alive, going to school, working for the government and improving their lives. I began to ask myself what I was doing in the forest," he said.

He added that seeing other members return safely encouraged him to consider coming home.

Munyaneza said he contacted staff of the UN Stabilisation Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO), who took him from South Kivu to Bukavu and then to the Congo-Rwanda border. From there he continued to Mutobo.

Lieutenant Colonel Idrissa Bizimana, who was in charge of ideology, propaganda and recruitment in the FDLR, said his decision to return came after his beliefs changed.

"I no longer believed in the ideology I had been spreading. After receiving verified information about what was happening in Rwanda, I decided to go home," he said.

Bizimana said he contacted a MONUSCO general who offered to help him return. He used a satellite phone with GPS to send his location and a date, and a helicopter was sent to collect him.

Lieutenant Colonel Emilien Mpakaniye, who joined the FDLR in 1998 and handled economic affairs at the group's headquarters, said he began to doubt the organisation after becoming disillusioned by what he described as lies.

Colonel Augustin Nshimiyimana, a former FDLR intelligence commander, returned to Rwanda in 2022 and was rehabilitated at Mutobo. He said he decided to leave after another commander accused him of working for Rwanda over a disagreement about a mission in Bujumbura.

Nshimiyimana said the accusation made him fear for his life.

"When they accuse you of working for Rwanda, it means they see you as a Tutsi, and the next step is to kill you," he said.

Preparing for a new life

At Mutobo, former fighters receive education and practical support to prepare for life after the centre.

Febronie Mukankiko, a teacher at the centre, said teaching adults who grew up in the forest requires a different approach.

"Our trainees are different from ordinary pupils. They are adults who grew up in the forest, so teaching them requires special skills. We receive extra training so we can teach them effectively," she said.

She said completing the programme can be a major achievement for people who had little access to formal education.

"When they graduate and receive their certificates, they are very happy," she said.

Musoni said the average stay at the centre is five months, after which returnees complete formal demobilisation procedures. Support can include financial allowances, vocational training, formal education and help setting up income-generating activities. The commission also follows up with former residents to assess their integration into the community.

For those who spent years away from Rwanda, leaving Mutobo marks the start of another transition: finding work, reconnecting with family and adapting to civilian society.

For Mpakaniye, disillusionment came partly from the gap between the lives of senior commanders' families and those of ordinary fighters.

"First, their relatives live in Rwanda and Europe, while our relatives are in the forest," he said.