Belgium vs Rwanda under the League of Nations mandate

July 9, 2025 Sylvain Mudacumura

Belgium–Rwanda relations refer to the international and diplomatic relations between Belgium and Rwanda.

Belgian relations with Rwanda started under the League of Nations mandate when the modern-day countries of Rwanda and Burundi were governed as Ruanda-Urundi.

As the colonial power, Rwanda’s relationship with Belgium has been significant throughout the country’s history, even after independence.

Belgian rule

The Treaty of Versailles after World War I divided the German colonial empire among the Allied nations. German East Africa was partitioned, and Belgium was allocated to Ruanda-Urundi, even though this represented only a fraction of the territories already occupied by the Belgian forces in East Africa.

Later, the League of Nations officially awarded Ruanda-Urundi to Belgium as a B-Class Mandate on 20 July 1922. The mandatory regime was also controversial in Belgium and was not approved by Belgium’s parliament until 1924.^[2]

Unlike colonies which belonged to its colonial power, a mandate was theoretically subject to international oversight through the League’s Permanent Mandates Commission (PMC) in Geneva, Switzerland.

After a period of inertia, the Belgian administration became actively involved in Ruanda-Urundi between 1926 and 1931 under the governorship of Charles Voisin.

The League of Nations was formally dissolved in April 1946 following its failure to prevent World War II.

For practical purposes, it was succeeded by the new United Nations (UN). In December 1946, the new body voted to end the mandate over Ruanda-Urundi and replace it with the new “Trust Territory” status.

Post-independence relations

Following anti-colonial independence movements throughout Africa and unrest in Rwanda including the overthrow of the monarchy during a called Rwandan Revolution, Ruanda-Urundi became independent after a rushed transition on 1 July 1962. It was broken up on traditional lines, becoming the Republic of Rwanda and the Kingdom of Burundi.

The Arusha Accords of 1993, the peace treaty led to the United Nations approving the mandate of UNAMIR as a peacekeeping force. Belgium and Bangladesh were the first nations to contribute troops.

The Belgian contingent was made up of around 440 troops.

After the assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana on 6 April 1994, rumours that Belgian troops were responsible spread on Hutu Power propaganda radio, including the Radio Television Libre de Milles Collines

En route to protecting then-Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana, fifteen Belgian UNAMIR peacekeepers were taken prisoner by the Rwandan Army. Ten of them, from a Paracommando Brigade, were killed – hacked to death with machetes and dismembered.

This was a strategic move by the Hutu Power extremists.

Belgium re-established diplomatic relations with Rwanda after the Genocide. It is one of Rwanda’s largest bilateral aid donors, donating $41.84 million in 2019.

On March 17, 2025, Rwanda severed diplomatic ties with Belgium, accusing it of siding in the regional conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Rwandan Foreign Ministry criticized Belgium’s “neocolonial delusions” and its “destructive historical role” in fueling ethnic extremism leading to the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. Consequently, all Belgian diplomats were given 48 hours to leave Rwanda. In response, Belgium declared Rwandan diplomats persona non grata, escalating tensions between the two nations.