Why former FDLR fighters are returning to Rwanda

Musanze, Rwanda – Jean Claude Hategekimana feared that returning to Rwanda could cost him his life. After years with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), he decided to leave the armed group and return home. At Rwanda’s Mutobo Demobilisation and Reintegration Centre, he began preparing for civilian life.Born in 1996 in Rutsiro District, in western Rwanda, Hategekimana moved to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with his parents and grew up in an area controlled by the FDLR. He joined the group in 2018, underwent military training and eventually reached the rank of captain.“I arrived at the Mutobo Centre after fighting to defend Goma. Following our defeat, I fled to Masisi. After realising that I was fighting for nothing, I decided to return to Rwanda. I came back on February 24,” he told Al Jazeera.Captain Jean-Claude Hategekimana, a former FDLR fighter who returned to Rwanda in February 2026 and entered the Mutobo Demobilisation and Reintegration Centre [Layth Mushtaq/Al Jazeera]Hategekimana said FDLR members had been taught that anyone who returned to Rwanda would be killed.“Upon arriving in Rwanda, I realised that the FDLR had been lying to us. For m...