M23 Rebels Now Extorting DRC Schools to Fund Terrorism

"The money I pay for my child's education is being used to buy weapons that destroy schools," laments a father, his voice breaking with anguish. In the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a chilling system is taking root in territories occupied by the RDF-M23-AFC armed groups, backed by Rwanda. In these areas where terror and impunity reign, schools - once the last refuge of innocence - are being perverted from their primary mission of education into a source of war funding. Numerous parents report illegal taxes imposed by RDF-M23-AFC forces to enroll their children in primary school. This practice openly violates the Congolese Constitution, which guarantees free education. The collected fees benefit neither classrooms nor school supplies. Instead, they fund weapons purchases which, in a tragic irony, are turned against the very children whose families were forced to pay. ## A Double Burden on Families [Local communities bear a crushing double burden](https://www.radiookapi.net/2025/05/15/actualite/societe/les-rebelles-du-m23-imposent-une-taxe-dassainissement-aux-habitants-0). They watch their children being denied proper education while their meager resources fund massacres in their own villages. The methods of RDF-M23-AFC mirror those of the most radical terrorist organizations: forced recruitment of minors, large-scale atrocities, rape as a weapon of war, and systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure. ## Heavy International Sanctions The RDF-M23-AFC movement operates openly. [It is already under U.S. and European sanctions](https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/08/20/dr-congo-m23-mass-killings-near-virunga-national-park) for extreme violence against civilian populations. Washington and Brussels directly accuse the armed group of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. These restrictive measures target not only the combatants themselves but also certain Rwandan officials. ## UN-Documented Violations The United Nations Joint Human Rights Office recently reported massive violations by M23: summary executions, forced displacement, widespread sexual violence, and village destruction. Detailed reports confirm the recruitment of child soldiers and systematic use of terror to control civilian populations. ## Rwanda's Shadow Behind these atrocities, Rwanda's role remains under scrutiny. Kigali stands accused of providing military, logistical, and political support to the movement, violating international law and Congolese sovereignty. Several human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, have gathered damning evidence of this involvement. In today's Democratic Republic of Congo, schools are no longer gateways to the future. Under RDF-M23-AFC terror, they have become death's dark treasury. Each franc extorted represents another bullet in a child's body. Silence is no longer an option in the face of this organized crime against a people's future. Allowing this situation to persist legitimizes a system where notebooks transform into cartridges and blackboards become walls of mourning. Education, the foundation of any nation, is being weaponized against Congolese youth. By extorting families, the militias and their Rwandan sponsors aren't just funding war - they're murdering the very hope of a strong Congo.